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THE MAGICAL NEW MOON. Frontispicce. 



WHAT THEY SAY 
IN NEW ENGLAND 



P. 



A BOOK OF SIGNS, SAY- 
INGS, AND SUPERSTITIONS 



COLLECTED 

BY. >' 

CLIFTON JOHNSON 

AUTHOR OF " THE NEW ENGLAND COUNTRY ' 
*' THE farmer's boy " ETC. 



-^v^^ Of coA-c;r? 



1 APR f^Pl89Rj 

BOSTON 
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS 

lO MILK STREET 
I 896 






Copyright, 1896, by Lee and Shepard 



All rights reserved 



WHAT THEY SAY IN NEW ENGLAND 



C. J. peters & SON, TYPOGRAPHERS, 





CONTENTS 



WHAT THEY SAY 
IN NEW ENGLAND 



to 

f^ PAGE 

Introduction 7 

The Weather 17 

Tea-Grounds 32 

Dreams 34 

Charms 41 

Fortune-Telling 48 

Odds 58 

Friends 70 

Wishes 72 

Medicinal 75 

The Farm 85 

Luck %% 

Snakes 96 

Folks 105 

Money 107 

Death 11 1 

Warts . . ' 116 

6 



6 Contents 



PAGE 

Love and Sentiment 123 

Company 133 

Religious 137 

The Moon 143 

Insects and Other Critters . . . . 149 

Counting out Rhymes 160 

Tricks and Catches 167 

Rhymes and Jingles 174 

Nursery Tales 198 

Spelling 212 

Problems 217 

Old Songs 222 

Old Stories 234 




INTRODUCTORY 



When I began to collect these 
signs and sayings, it was with the 
idea of gathering them for my 
own entertainment. In days like 
the present of universal books and 
schools, I thought I could hope to 
get only a few remnants of the 
thought and notions that have de- 
scended to us from the illiterate 
and superstitious ages of the past ; 
and I supposed that by the time 
I had picked up two or three scores 
of these oddities the subject would be 
exhausted as far as New England was 
concerned. But when I began to notice, 
I found that people in their every-day 
conversation were constantly dropping 
remarks on the significance of all sorts 
of things that were a part of this old 
folk-lore. When questioned, nearly 
every one, old and young, could repeat 
a few sayings of the kind I sought, and 
among these were almost always some 
I had not heard before. My collection 
7 



8 Kntt0lJuct0tg 



grew until I saw the possibility of a 
volume, and I could not but wonder 
what the superstitions of the Dark Ages 
were like if these were only remnants. 
Not only was the number of sayings 
floating about astonishing, but it was 
remarkable how much belief there was 
in them. 

Most New Englanders disclaim a be- 
lief in signs, — at least, they say a good 
share of them are all nonsense ; yet a 
confidential acquaintance is apt to re- 
veal some they accept. Most of the 
signs you hear from any particular per- 
son are repeated because they are sim- 
ply curious, or because there may be 
some possible unperceived significance 
in them. I do not suppose any one 
believes them all, unless it is some im- 
aginative small boy. It is the least 
thoughtful and least educated classes 
that have most belief in signs. Chil- 
dren accept them readily, just as they 
will accept anything told them about 
which they know nothing to the contrary. 
Some sayings add charm, some mystery, 
to the child's life ; others frighten. The 
person who is not affected at all by 
these old sayings is the exception. A 
few of them, as^ for instance, certain of 



Entrobuctorg 9 



those about the weather, have a scien- 
tific foundation ; and I do not speak of 
those, but of such as seem to be en- 
tirely without sense. It is not always 
easy to decide which sayings have truth 
to back them and which only fancy. If 
you will listen to the relation of them, 
some of the most fantastic will be told 
with such detail and so stoutly cham- 
pioned that you are tempted to question 
if the days of miracles really are past. 
A man will tell you about horse-hairs 
turning into snakes ; and you will hear of 
wart cures, and of the good or ill effect 
of one thing and another, — and all of 
the list " known '' to be true, — till you 
begin to think that perhaps your own 
knowledge of the supernatural is very 
narrow and bigoted. 

Perhaps no class is more addicted to 
sign-telling and belief in signs than 
those who have emigrated to this coun- 
try in comparatively recent years. It is 
their children at the schools who are 
most apt to keep the rest posted as to 
what means what, and as to when things 
portend disaster. 

I do not know that any of the signs 
gathered are natives of New England 
by right of invention. I suppose most 



10 gntrotiuctorg 

can be traced to a foreign ancestry, just 
as they say all the old jokes can be 
traced back to Noah. Yet if Yankee 
cuteness did not share in the originating 
of them, it has given its peculiar local 
twist to a large number of them. 

One man who has made a study of 
the subject affirms that superstition, in 
our most cultured communities, is so 
general that no woman in Massachu- 
setts, for instance, would invite a party 
of thirteen to dine together. There are 
plenty of women who would not them- 
selves object to being one of a dinner 
party of thirteen ; but they would not 
call together such a number, because 
among the guests there would be sure 
to be some who would be disturbed. 
The statement seems to me too sweep- 
ing, though I think there is much truth 
in it; and I have known parties which 
happened to number thirteen where 
great pains were taken to procure an 
extra guest, or to have a part of those 
present eat at a side-table. It is cer- 
tain that signs and sayings flourish in the 
society life of our towns. Indeed, you 
cannot tell with certainty who will be- 
lieve them and who disbelieve ; for there 
are still men of wise repute and high 



Entrotiuctotg 11 

position who have superstitions that lead 
them to performances as odd as that of 
Dr. Johnson, who would always touch 
every post in a certain street when he 
passed through. 

There are many believers in the sig- 
nificance of dreams, and they can give 
plenty of instances in their own expe- 
rience and that of others to show a good 
foundation for their faith. I suppose 
this faith and apparent proof grow out 
of the fact that we remember odd co- 
incidences, and forget the many times 
when we dreamed and nothing came 
of it. 

The moon gets seriously given credit 
for a good many things too. Yet how 
its phases could affect the weather, or 
the crops, or the pork of the hogs that 
are killed, I do not understand, and 
probably no one does. I have read 
that the light of the moon will spoil fish 
exposed to it; but I am sure I do not 
see what there could be in moonlight to 
harm the fish or anything else. 

Wart cures have a good many cham- 
pions who have proved their virtues in 
their own persons ; most people who try 
these cures believe in the last one they 
tried before the warts left them. It 



12 Entroltuctatg 

doesn't matter how ridiculous it was ; 
if the warts went, that settles it. Even 
Lord Bacon, that " wisest of men,'' tells 
us at length of a queer performance he 
once went through to dispose of his 
warts; and though he did what he did 
as an unbeliever, when the warts disap- 
peared he was constrained to credit the 
value and efficacy of this method of 
wart cure. 

Luck and snakes and charms, and all 
the rest of the list, have believers as well 
as quoters. Least weight is perhaps 
attached to the sentimental sayings and 
to fortune-telling. Love signs are re- 
peated and futures forecast usually for 
the humor of the thing, though I ima- 
gine there are persons who find even 
these oracular. Small children are 
much concerned over the way their but- 
tons or the daisy petals count up ; but 
as their fortune is diiferent with differ- 
ent daisies or a change of clothes, they 
soon get over this. There is rarely any 
one in country regions who makes pre- 
tensions to fortune-telling, though wan- 
dering gypsies, when they pass through 
a district, are ready for a consideration 
to tell what one's life will be. I think 
few people believe in the powers these 



gntrotiuctorg 13 

gypsies claim, but some say they tell 
things they themselves had no idea were 
so, or would be so, until afterward. 

One might fancy, from the number of 
sayings and superstitions that can be 
readily picked up, that there was as yet 
no real folk-lore decadence. But you 
will find when you talk with people that 
they are very sure to speak of a father 
or a grandfather or grandmother, or 
some other relative, now passed away, 
whom you " ought to have seen — they 
had no end of signs, and they knew lots 
of old rhymes and songs, and believed 
in witches. They would be just the 
ones you're lookin' after.'^ Signs are 
certainly not believed in as unquestion- 
ingly as they were once, nor are they in 
so common use. At the same time we 
lose them gradually, and the survivors 
will make up a large bulk in common 
use for a great while to come. Loss is 
most apparent when we get outside the 
short jingles and sayings of a sentence 
or two in length. There is now such a 
mass of reading, stories and songs, that 
people gather hastily and forget quickly. 
In more barren times many tales were 
handed down by word of mouth, and 
were remembered and repeated a life- 



14 gnttatiuctorg 

time through. As for songs, now we 
have a new one that takes the popular 
fancy every six months. For half a 
year everybody is singing it, and after 
that nobody sings it. In the olden time 
the clever ones had a number of ditties 
and ballads in their heads that were in- 
delibly memorized ; and at an evening 
party, when they were called on for a 
song, they could sing the particular song 
they undertook clear through, even if 
it had twenty-nine verses. They could 
tell old fairy-tales too, and would scare 
themselves with witch stories. Now, of 
all this more elaborate lore, you can pick 
up only scattered fragments. 

Nearly all of what is in this volume 
was gathered in western Massachusetts. 
It is largely put down in the language 
of the people who made the statements, 
and I have sometimes added their com- 
ments. With few exceptions, everything 
in the book came to me by word of 
mouth. 

The chapter of Nursery Tales and 
some other chapters could have been 
much extended; but I did not care to 
repeat things found in other books, un- 
less there was an interesting individ- 
uality in the telling that warranted it. 



Introtiuctarg 15 

I would be glad if New England 
readers who know of sayings and stories 
not noted here would send such to 
me. 

CLIFTON JOHNSON. 
Hadley, Mass. 



Postscript. This book is one of three 
New England books that I have writ- 
ten, each of which in its way supple- 
ments the others. The titles of the two 
other books are *'The New England 
Country," a study of old times and of 
the out-of-doors nature of the present, 
and ''A Book of Country Clouds and 
Sunshine," a study of life on our farms 
and in our rural villages. Both books 
are very fully illustrated. 



THE WEATHER 

When you see the sun drawing water 
at night, know that it will rain on the 
morrow. The sun is said to be drawing 
water when its rays can be seen shining 
through rifts in distant clouds. 

Rain before seven, 
Clear before 'leven. 

As the old woman said, '' I never knew 
it to begin in the mornin' and rain all 
day in my life. But I've known it to 
begin at noon and rain all day lots of 
times." 

Six weeks after you hear the first 
katydid look for a frost. 

Notice your cat when it washes its 
face. The paw it uses and the direc- 
tion it faces will show the point of com- 
pass whence the wind is blowing. For 
instance, the cat faces the north and 
washes with its left paw ; the wind is 
blowing from the north-west. 

Blow out a candle, and if the wick 
17 



18 E\)t TOgatfor 

continues long to smoulder, look for bad 
weather. If it goes out quickly, the 
weather will be fair. 

When the camphor in its bottle is 
*' riley/' it shows that a storm is brewing. 

Red in the morning, 
Sailors take warning ; 
Red at night. 
Sailors delight. 

There is a rainbow jingle much like 
this, which runs as follows : — 

Rainbow in the morning, 
Sailors take warning ; 
Rainbow at night, 
Sailors delight ; 
Rainbow at noon. 
Rain very soon. 

When you hear the first frogs in the 
spring, you may know the frost is out of 
the ground. 

The last Friday of each month is the 
almanac index for the next month. If 
the weather is fair, the month will be 
likewise ; if foul, so will the month be. 

The twelve days after Christmas indi- 
cate the weather for the following year. 
Each day in order shows the weather 
for one month. 



E^z m^zai^zx 19 

If it storms the first Sunday in the 
month, it will storm every Sunday in 
the month. 

When you take up the tea-kettle and 
find sparks on the bottom, it is a sign 
of cold weather. 

Fog on the hills. 

More water for the mills. 

When a person kills a snake he does 
well to consider what kind of weather 
he would like. If he hangs the snake 
up, it will rain ; if he buries it, the weather 
will be fair. 

Rub a cat's back the wrong way, and 
if you see sparks, it is a sign of cold 
weather. 

If the sun sets in a cloud, it will rain 
on the morrow. The person who takes 
this saying as literally true would do 
well to remember that unless the cloud 
that hides the sun from his sight is 
extremely large, a spectator a short dis- 
tance to the north or south would at the 
same moment see the sun set in clear 
sky. 

If you see sun-dogs, expect rain soon. 

In winter when you see the wild geese 
flying south, expect cold weather. They 
fly south because the ponds to the 



20 Ei)z TOeat|)gr 

north are frozen over. When the geese 
are seen flying north, warm weather is 
to be expected. 

Three white frosts and then a storm. 

When you see whitecaps on the pond 
or river, it is going to rain. 

When the smoke from a chimney does 
not rise, but falls to the ground, it is 
going to storm. 

When the squirrels lay in a big store 
of nuts, look for a hard winter. 

Three foggy mornings and then a 
rain. 

Between twelve and two 

You can tell what the day will do. 

An evening red and a morning gray 
Will set the traveller on his way. 
But an evening gray and a morning red 
Will pour down rain on the traveller's 
head. 

If the corn-husks are thicker than 
usual, the winter will be colder than 
usual. 

If the melt of the hog killed in the 
fall is big at the front end, the winter 
will be sharpest at the beginning. If 
the melt is biggest at the rear, the win- 
ter will be coldest in the latter part. 

If in the autumn you find the skin of 



the apples tougher than usual, look for 
a cold winter. 

When the cattle lie down as soon as 
they are turned out to pasture in the 
morning, it is because they feel a rheu- 
matic weariness in their bones, and you 
can look for a rain soon. 

If the chickens' feathers are very 
thick at Thanksgiving time, the winter 
will be a hard one. 

A sunshiny shower 
Won't last half an hour. 

A ringing in the ears is the sign of 
a change of weather. Others say it is 
a sign that several people are talking 
about you. 

When the rooster crows at nine 
o'clock in the evening, expect a change 
of weather. 

If the chickens come out while it rains, 
it is a sign that the storm is to be a ^ 
long one. If they stand around under 
the shed, the storm will be short. 

If it rains on the first dog-day, it will 
rain on each of the other thirty-nine. 
If, on the other hand, the first dog-day 
is dry, all the rest will be dry. 

If the chickweed blossoms are open, 
it will not rain for at least three hours. 



22 gri&e mizui^tx 

When the fog goes up the mountain 
hoppin', 

Then the rain comes down the moun- 
tain droppin'. 

Biit if instead of rising the fog de- 
scends, it is going to clear oif. 

If you see froth along the shores of 
the streams, you may know it is going 
to rain. 

On such mornings as you see the cob- 
webs on lawns and grass-fields shining 
with dew, the day will be fair. 

All signs fail in a dry time. 

When the farm animals are unusually 
frisky, it is a sign that it is going to rain. 

If the breast-bones of the Thanks- 
giving chickens are light in color, there 
will be a good deal of snow in the win- 
ter following. If the color is dark, there 
will be little snow. 

When a night passes and no dew falls, 
it is a sign it is going to rain. This 
omen loses much of its mystery when 
one remembers that dew has not fallen 
because the night was clouded. 

Northern lights are a sign of cold 
weather. 

After the frogs begin to sing in the 
spring, if they are frozen in three times, 



you may be sure that afterwards you 
will have warm weather. 

When the fire snaps and sparkles, it 
is a sign cold weather is coming. 

If some night you hear a cricket 
chirping in the house, look for cold 
weather soon. 

When the wind whistles about the 
house, that is a sign of a storm. 

When you hear an owl hoot, it is safe 
to conclude it is going to storm. 

When you hear a cuckoo calling, you 
may know it is going to rain. Bob 
White sings at such times too. Some 
say he is calling, " More wet, more wet." 
When you hear the tree-toads crying, 
you can also know it is going to rain. 

If the rooster crows on the fence, it 
is a sign that the weather is going to 
change. 
If the rooster crows when he goes to 

bed, 
He will get up with a wet head. 

If the water boils out of the kettle, it 
is a sign that it is going to storm. 

If the snow on the roof melts off, the 
next storm will be rain. If it blows off, 
you can calculate on snow. 

The day of the month on which the 
first snowstorm comes gives the number 



24 Eijz mSim\)zx 

of storms you can expect in the follow- 
ing winter. 

If the breast-bone of the Thanksgiving 
goose is dark, it shows that you will 
have more rain in the succeeding win- 
ter than snow. 

A mackerel sky 

Won't leave the ground dry. 

Another jingle referring to much the 
same kind of a clouded sky is this : — 

Mackerel scales and mares' tails 
Make lofty ships to carry low sails. 

If you see an old cat running and 
playing and feeling good, it is a sign 
the wind is going to blow. 

The sun shines every Saturday but 
one in the year. On some Saturdays 
there may not be more than a few 
stray gleams, but with the single ex- 
ception it will at least shine a little. 

If the sun sets clear on Friday, it will 
storm before Monday night. 

Whistle when you want the wind to 
blow. 

A cold, wet May, 
A barn full of hay. 

If the cat comes in and sits on the 



hearth with its back to the north, it is a 
sign of cold weather. 

If you see the cat or the dog eating 
grass, you may look for rain soon. 

If the children find the dog eating 
grass when they do not wish it to rain, 
they will chase him away, with the idea 
to in that way gain fair weather. 

When the scales are thick on the 
buds, the winter will be long and cold. 

If it rains while the sun shines, it will 
rain on the day following. 

When it rains thus, the saying is that 
'' the devil is whipping his wife." 

When in the evening you see the swal- 
lows flying high, the morrow will be fair. 
When the swallows fly low, it is a sign of 
rain. 

When the leaves of the poplars or 
other trees turn up their under sides, 
look for rain. Know, too, that it is 
going to rain when you see the hens 
"greasing" themselves. 

When of a morning you find tiny heaps 
of dirt thrown up by the ants during the 
night in the hard-packed earth of the 
paths and dooryard, you can calculate 
on a fair day. 

When the coals in the old fireplace 
were ruddy, and the fire burned up 



24 Eijz mzai^zv 

of storms you can expect in the follow- 
ing winter. 

If the breast-bone of the Thanksgiving 
goose is dark, it shows that you will 
have more rain in the succeeding win- 
ter than snow. 

A mackerel sky 

Won't leave the ground dry. 

Another jingle referring to much the 
same kind of a clouded sky is this : — 

Mackerel scales and mares' tails 
Make lofty ships to carry low sails. 

If you see an old cat running and 
playing and feeling good, it is a sign 
the wind is going to blow. 

The sun shines every Saturday but 
one in the year. On some Saturdays 
there may not be more than a few 
stray gleams, but with the single ex- 
ception it will at least shine a little. 

If the sun sets clear on Friday, it will 
storm before Monday night. 

Whistle when you want the wind to 
blow. 

A cold, wet May, 
A barn full of hay. 

If the cat comes in and sits on the 



E^z TOeatfier 25 

hearth with its back to the north, it is a 
sign of cold weather. 

If you see the cat or the dog eating 
grass, you may look for rain soon. 

If the children find the dog eating 
grass when they do not wish it to rain, 
they will chase him away, with the idea 
to in that way gain fair weather. 

When the scales are thick on the 
buds, the winter will be long and cold. 

If it rains while the sun shines, it will 
rain on the day following. 

When it rains thus, the saying is that 
'' the devil is whipping his wife." 

When in the evening you see the swal- 
lows flying high, the morrow will be fair. 
When the swallows fly low, it is a sign of 
rain. 

When the leaves of the poplars or 
other trees turn up their under sides, 
look for rain. Know, too, that it is 
going to rain when you see the hens 
" greasing " themselves. 

When of a morning you find tiny heaps 
of dirt thrown up by the ants during the 
night in the hard-packed earth of the 
paths and dooryard, you can calculate 
on a fair day. 

When the coals in the old fireplace 
were ruddy, and the fire burned up 



26 E^z TOeatf)er 

brightly, it was said cold weather was 
approaching. When the fire sparkled 
and snapped, they expected wind. 

A curdly sky is the sign of a rain 
within three days. 

If the ice on the trees melts and runs 
off, the next storm will be rain. If it is 
cracked off by the wind, the storm that 
comes next will be snow. 

If you see an unusual number of crows 
flying about in the autumn, look for a 
cold winter. This is accounted a very 
sensible saying by some, on the ground 
that many more of the birds will nat- 
urally be hovering about on their way 
south when a hard winter is approach- 
ing than w^hen the season promises to 
be mild. 

If the sky looks brassy in the west at 
sunset, it is a sign of high winds. 

When the wind is in the east, 
Then the sap will run the least. 
When the wind is in the west. 
Then the sap will run the best. 

Thunder after midnight means that 
the next day will be lowery. 

If the sun shines clear in the early 
morning, and then the sky very soon 
clouds up, it will rain before night. 



Cj&e roeatt}et 27 

When you see the frogs jumping 
around in the meadows with greater 
activity than common, look for rain 
soon. 

When you hear the frogs piping of 
an evening, you can calculate on a fair 
morrow. 

When the chimney swallows flock out 
in great numbers, and dart about high 
in the air, diving and whirling in great 
excitement, there is soon to be a thun- 
der-storm or a high wind. 

Snowy winter, a plentiful harvest. 
The snow is supposed to protect the 
roots of grass, vines, and trees, so that 
they put forth more vigorous growths 
the summer following. 

If March comes in like a lion, it goes 
out like a lamb. If it comes in like a 
lamb, it will go out like a lion. 

Kill a beetle, and it will be sure to 
bring rain. 

Snow that comes in the old of the 
moon is apt to last. Snow that comes 
in the new of the moon is apt to melt 

April showers 
Bring May flowers. 

When you see the pigs carry straws in 
their mouths, look for high winds. 



28 E^z mSizat^tx 

A peck of March dust is worth a bag 
of gold. The idea is that when you have 
much dust blowing about there must be 
much wind; and winds at that season 
dry the mud, and prepare the earth so 
that all crops can get an early start. 

Open and shet 
Sign of wet. 

That is, you can expect rain when the 
clouds open and shut. 

When the wind is in the east, 

'Tis neither good for man nor beast. 

Sun at seven, 
Rain at 'leven. 

This means that if early in a cloudy 
morning the sun comes out for a little, 
it will rain by noon. 

The sunlight always dawns on the 
wall on Easter morning. 

Whenever after it has been raining 
you can see through the clouds enough 
blue sky to make a pair of Dutchman's 
breeches, you may know it is going to 
clear off. 

As far as the sun shines in on Candle- 
mas Day, 

So far the snow blows in before May 
Day. 



Ei}e TOeatfiet 29 

If Candlemas day be fair and bright, 
Winter will take another flight ; 
If. chance to fall a shower of rain, 
Winter will not come again. 

If Candlemas Day be bright and clear. 
Be sure you will have two winters that 
year. 

If Candlemas Day be fair and clear, 
All old men wish their wives on the 
bier. 

This savage rhyme must have de- 
scended from very ancient times. The 
idea is, that when the old man found 
the second of February clear, and re- 
membered that this meant there was still 
hard winter weather ahead, he wished 
his wife dead because of the trouble it 
would be to support her. 

On Candlemas Day 

Half the wood and half the hay. 

The old farmer at this time takes a 
critical survey of his woodpile and hay- 
mow ; and if there is not in them half 
what there was at the beginning of 
winter, he lays plans for their replen- 
ishing before the opening of the new 
season. 



30 E^z TOeatfier 

Others say, — 

Half the pork and half the hay 
On Christmas Day. 

It is related that there was a time 
when the men would occupy a part of 
their leisure on Christmas Day in mak- 
ing a tour of the neighbors to see how 
their hay was holding out. 

If the woodchuck comes out on Can- 
dlemas Day, and sees his shadow, he 
crawls back to his hole and dozes again. 
He knows there will still be sharp 
weather. If the day is cloudy and he 
sees no shadow, he knows the hardest 
part of winter is past, and begins to 
make preparations for warm-weather 
housekeeping. 

It^s a sign of rain when the flies bite. 

As long as the dogstar reigns, there 
will be dry weather. 

" I was sure 'twas goin' to rain when 
I started out this mornin', it looked so 
dark and dull. Then I see one o' these 
little whirlwinds, and it turned around 
from right to left like you wind your 
watch, and I knew we wouldn't have 
no rain that day anyhow." A whirl- 
wind has to turn from left to right to 
mean rain. 



grfje WeatfjEt 31 

On some days of autumn you may 
see the grass full of stringy lines of cob- 
webs that make a glistening path sun- 
ward. They are a sign of frost. 

When it begins to snow, notice the 
size of the flakes. If they are very fine, 
the storm will be a long one ; if large, 
the storm will soon be over. 

When you see a cloud in the sky that 
grows larger, it is going to storm. When 
you see a cloud grow smaller and melt 
away, it is going to be fair. 

There is- going to be a change of 
weather when you hear the telegraph 
poles buzz. It is going to be either 
colder or warmer. 

It is a sign of a storm when you see 
the sheep feeding more eagerly than 
usual. 

If a storm clears off in the night, you 
can expect another storm soon. 

The bones of rheumatic people ache 
when a storm is brewing. 

"Well, boys,'' says the farmer, "you 
want to hustle round this morning and 
get that hay in. My bones have been 
achin', and there's always a storm within 
forty-eight hours after they begin to 
ache." 







TEA-GROUNDS 

When you find tea- 
grounds floating in your 
cup, know that you are going to have 
company. If the grounds are soft, it 
is a woman who is coming ; if hard, a 
man. If the grounds are long, the per- 
son coming is tall ; if short, the visitor 
will be short. When a girl or woman 
first sights the floating grounds in her 
cup, the comment is apt to be, *' There, 
got a beau ! '' If the grounds are taken 
out and thrown under the table, the 
company will stay all night. If the 
grounds are left in the cup, the visitor 
will simply make a call. 

After you drink the tea you can get 
still further enlightenment, if there are 
grounds in the bottom of the cup. 
Turn the cup around a few times. 
Then put it bottom upwards on your 
saucer, and give it a few more turns. 
Now turn it over. If you see paths in 
the grounds, it is a sign that you are 
32 



Eza @r0unt>g 33 

to go on a journey. If the paths are 
long, the journey will be long, and vice 
versa. Turn the cup up sideways, and 
if any tea runs out you will cry on 
your journey. If the grounds anywhere 
form a ring with a dot in the middle, 
that is a wish, and you must think 
what you most want. You may see 
hills, and people walking or working 
or on horseback. All the things you 
see have a meaning. But I believe you 
are at liberty to interpret them pretty 
much as you choose. It is to be noted 
that many people can see naught but 
the tea-grounds, where others see all 
sorts of objects in them. 




L 




DREAMS 



If you dream of falling, and are awa- 
kened by the fancied jar of landing, it is 
a sign that you are going to be sick. If, 
however, you awake while still in mid- 
air, you may be assured you will continue 
in good health. 

Tell your dreams, and you will keep 
on dreaming. To tell the dreams cul- 
tivates a habit of remembering what is 
dreamed ; and that is probably the only 
effect, though it may apparently seem to 
make the teller have more dreams. 

Dream of seeing fresh beef, and you 
will soon hear of a friend who is sick. 

If you dream of water, it is a sign of 
sickness. 

If you dream of eating, it is a sign that 
you are going to be sick. 

One woman says, ^' Well, I always 
know I'm goin' to be sick when I dream 
I can't get the table set. When I dream 
34 



IBteamg 36 



there's so many here I can't get my 
work done, I always have a sick spell." 

It used to be said that if a dream was 
sufficiently vivid to make the dreamer 
notice and remember it, there was some 
occult significance in it that was worthy 
of study. 

Dreams are often thought to contain 
information. Sometimes the information 
is in a realistic, sometimes in a symbolic 
form. Frequently the dreams contain 
prophetic warnings. Many still believe 
in dreams to a limited degree. The fol- 
lowing are examples of what are repeated 
as dreams of proved significance. An 
old lady tells the first : — 

'' It was after midnight, and I was 
dreaming a dream about a terrible thun- 
der-storm. It grew worse and worse till 
there was one clap so loud it seemed as 
if the skies had broken to pieces. Right 
after it I woke up, and I heard a knock 
on the outside door of the sitting-room. I 
knew that instant what my dream meant 
and who was there. It was Charlie ! I 
went to the door and it was. There he 
had been gone seven or eight years. 
He'd been a sailor on the ocean, and 
we hadn't heard a word from him, and 
didn't know but he was dead, and that 



36 ©reamg 



dream came to show me he was alive 
and near/' 

A younger woman tells the second : — 

" I dreamed one night I was going 
to get a scolding letter from Centerville ; 
and the next day I got a scolding letter 
from Centerville, and it was word for 
word just as I dreamed it. Wa'n't that 
curious ? 

" Don't you believe in dreams ? There's 
lots do. Our minister does. I asked 
him one day. 

" ' Don't you believe in dreams ? ' says 
I. 

'* * Yes, I do,' says 'e. Most everybody 
believes in some of 'em." 

A third woman relates the following : 

" One night toward morning I dreamed 
I saw Cousin Jane way up on the top of 
a high mountain ; and I was looking up 
at her from the valley, and wondering 
how she got up there. She was so high 
up it seemed as though her head touched 
the sky, and she looked down and smiled 
on me just as pleasant as could be. I 
hunted around for some way to get up 
to her, and I found some steps. But 
when I got half way up, the steps came 
to an end, and I couldn't get any farther. 
The next thing I found myself in a river 



IBreamg 37 



and in lots of trouble. The waters were 
muddy, and the wind blew, and the waves 
dashed over me. Then I woke up ; and 
there was beginning to be light enough 
to see things around in the room, so I 
knew it was time to get up. All that 
morning I felt downhearted and de- 
pressed, and I couldn't think of any 
reason why. Then at noon there came 
a telegram that Cousin Jane had died 
just before sunrise that day.'' 

Dream of the dead, and you will hear 
from the living. That means, from a 
near relative of the deceased. 

To dream of a funeral is a sign of a 
wedding. 

To dream of a wedding is a sign of 
a funeral. 

Dreams go by contraries, it is said, 
and these last two examples are to the 
point. Nevertheless, it will be noted 
that most dreams are interpreted in ac- 
cord with their incidents, and not re- 
versibly. 

If you dream of snakes, it is a sign 
you have an enemy. 

If in your dreams you kill the snake, 
you may know you will get the best of 
your enemy. 

If you dream of a fire, it is a sign 



38 Bteamg; 



you are going to quarrel. If you dream 
you put out the fire, you are the one who 
is to conquer in the quarrel. 

" There ! I think there's more in those 
two than in all the other signs put to- 
gether. When I dream of fire, I'm very 
careful what I do, so's not to get into 
any quarrel ; and if I dream of snakes, I 
look out for folks for fear I'll meet an 
enemy." 

Saturday night dream, 
Sunday morning told. 
Sign 'twill come to pass 
Before it's a week old. 

" You will have great trouble if you 
dream of a white horse," said Uncle 
Timothy. " I've always found that to 
come true. There was one time in par- 
ticular I remember. It was winter, and 
I was at work a good many miles from 
home in a logging-camp. One night I 
had a terrible dream about a white horse 
that got angry with me, and bit me. I 
knew something would happen in con- 
sequence of that dream, and I was afraid 
I was going to get killed. I wa'n't 
good for much workin' that day, I felt 
so gloomy about my dream ; but I went 
out with my axe same as usual. I 



IBteamg 39 



wa'n't noticing things as I ought to; 
and when I was cutting a tree, it came 
down and knocked me senseless. The 
rest of the fellows carried me to camp. 
I can't tell you how relieved I was when 
I come to and found myself alive. I 
thought myself lucky to get off so easy 
after such a dream.'' 

There are those, however, who say 
that to dream of a white horse is a sign 
you are going to be rich. 

When you sleep in a strange bed, 
whatever you dream will come to pass. 

" But then one can see that that can't 
be ; for one dreams horrid dreams and 
queer things that never could come to 
pass." 

If you dream of lice, it is a sign that 
sickness threatens some member of the 
family. 

Tell your dream before breakfast, and 
it will come to pass. 

To dream of eggs is a sign of trouble. 

It is a good sign to dream of clear 
water ; but to dream of muddy water is 
a sign of trouble. 

Dream a thing three nights in succes- 
sion, and it will come to pass. 

What you dream Monday morning^ 
before daylight will come true before 



40 fflreamg 



Saturday night. If what you dream is 
bad, you can keep it from coming true 
by not telling your dream till after you've 
eaten breakfast. 

To dream of picking blackberries is a 
sign of sickness. 

Sleep with a piece of wedding-cake 
under your pillow for three nights in 
succession, and whatever you dream of 
on the third night will come to pass. 

" You can't always dream, though. I 
know I tried it when Jenny was married. 
I took a good hunk of the wedding-cake 
and put it under my pillow and kept it 
there five nights and never dreampt a 
thing. Then the sixth night I woke up 
about midnight feelin' kind o' hungry, 
so I ate it up." 




CHARMS 

Let a young woman pin a four-leaf 
clover over the door, and the first un- 
married man who comes in the door 
will be the one she is to marry. 

If, instead, the maiden prefers to eat 
the clover, or to put it in her shoe, she 
may recognize her fate in the first un- 
married man she meets afterwards. 

If you have lost your cow, catch a 
grandpa-long-legs, put a finger on one 
leg, and he will point with another leg 
in the direction in which you will find 
the stray cow. 

Boy : "That's so. They will tell you. 
Lots of times when I couldn't find a 
cow, I've just taken a grandpa-long-legs 
and he'd point just where it was. Then 
I'd go that way and find it, when I 
couldn't find it no other way nohow." 

Man : " I've got a cow out here that'd 
trouble 'em some. The grandpa-long- 
legs 'd have to point in all directions to 
keep track of her.'' 

41 



42 Ci^armg 



If a grandpa-long-legs is not handy, 
spit in the palm of the left hand, strike 
the spittle with a finger of the right, and 
the direction the spittle jumps in will 
show what course to take in looking for 
the cow. 

A good way to get rid of freckles is 
to go to a brook, catch a frog, and rub 
him alive on your face. 

If you have too many rats in the 
house, take an old tin pan down cellar 
and give it a good drumming. The 
rats will hasten off the premises. 

Possess yourself with a four-leaf clover 
and a stick with a knot-hole in it when 
you are to witness a sleight-of-hand per- 
formance. If aught puzzles you, there 
is need only to w^itness it through the 
knot-hole to have the trick made clear 
as day to you. 

If your ear burns, it is a sign that 
somebody is talking about you. By 
wetting your thumb and forefinger and 
rubbing your ear, you can put a stop to 
the talk about you. If it is the right ear 
which burns, some one is saying some- 
thing good of you. If the left ear burns, 
some one is saying something bad of 
you. In the latter case you will^ do well 
to pinch your ear, for that will make the 



ffiftatmg 43 



person who is talking about you bite 
his tongue. 

Repeat the Lord's Prayer backwards, 
and you will see the Devil. 

If you wish to get rid of the rats 
which make the walls of your house 
their home, write them a note couched 
in the politest terms you are master of, 
requesting them to go to a neighbor, 
and they will do as you desire. Be 
careful, of course, to tell the rats which 
neighbor you wish them to go to. 

Another method, equally good, is to 
catch a rat, carry it to a neighbor's, and 
let it loose there. All the other rats at 
your house will follow it. 

Again, if, you will catch a rat and let 
it loose with a bell tied to its neck, all 
the rats wdll leave. 

If you get a fishbone in your throat, 
pull your big toe, and the fishbone will 
immediately come out. 

In the old days when feruling was 
common in the schools, the boys had a 
belief that if they spit in their hand 
before the teacher struck it, the ferule 
would break in two at the first blow. 

Once in a while there is a rare per- 
son who is endowed by nature with the 
power to discover where it is best to 



44 ffifjarmg 



dig a spring or a well. This person, 
if you employ him, walks about your 
premises with a branch of witch-hazel 
in his hand. At such spots as water 
can be struck without deep digging, the 
hazel branch droops downward, even 
if the medium attempts to prevent its 
doing so. By the way the twig twists 
and turns can be determined the exact 
spot where it will be best for you to dig. 
A witch-hazel crotch is the favorite 
instrument of the water-finders. But 
there is a variation in preference. Some 
claim it doesn't matter what sort of a 
tree the crotch comes from. One old 
man I heard of used an apple-tree 
crotch. He demonstrated that he could 
locate waterpipes at the farm where he 
worked with no previous knowledge of 
where they were. Every time he came 
over a pipe the crotch bent downward. 
He really was able to tell just where 
the pipes were in spite of their crooked 
curves. He was a simple, mild old 
laborer, and was not to be suspected 
of sleight of hand. He said he couldn't 
prevent the downward inclination of the 
crotch if he tried to, but had no expla- 
nation to offer of the queer performance 
of the twig in his hand. 



CJjarmg 45 



One man gifted with this water-find- 
ing power is a minister. It is his idea 
that this is not a special gift, but that 
all of us have it. He once followed 
back an underground watercourse to 
where another watercourse branched 
away from it. Here a well was dug 
that gave a most plenteous and never- 
failing supply of water. He said that 
by careful calculation a person could 
determine how deep the water lay. For 
instance, notice the inclination of the 
crotch and the spot where the pull of 
the water first asserts itself. Then dis- 
cover the spot that brings you right over 
it. A calculation can be made from 
the angle and the distance from the 
place where the pull was first felt that 
will show just how much digging is 
necessary. 

A water-finder who uses an elm crotch 
says any one can find water in this w^ay 
who has warm hands. This man was 
something of a professional, and his 
charge was three dollars for each time 
he was employed. 

He says he has never failed but once 
in his water searching, and that was 
when the man didn't dig where he told 
him to. 



46 ffl:fjattn0 



After he made this statement, he was 
employed one dry season to locate a 
spring on a hillside in a village several 
miles from his home. 

The crotch he used was long and 
limber; and he wound the ends about 
his palms, and grasped them very tight. 
His palms were turned upward, and the 
stick stood up vertically in the air above 
them. When he came over water the 
top tipped outward and downward. The 
spot where it went down farthest was 
the place where the best spring was. 
Where there was water the crotch would 
go down, even if he tried to prevent it. 
Sometimes the downward pull was so 
forcible that when he held the twigs 
tight the bark would be twisted off in 
his hands. He said that water in a 
brook or in a pail did not affect the 
mystic crotch ; the water must have dirt 
over it to make the stick turn. 

In the case I speak of the water- 
finder went over the premises, and the 
crotch indicated a spot in the corner of 
a cornfield as the best one for a spring. 
The man said there was a spring there 
and a good one, only they would have 
to dig twelve feet to strike it. 

The corn was cut, and three men 



fiCIjarme; 47 



spent two days digging a great circular 
hole sixteen feet deep. They failed to 
find water. The elm-crotch man was 
informed, and he came and looked down 
the hole. He said he couldn't under- 
stand it. Then he saw yellow stains in 
some of the dirt, and said there was iron 
ore there, and it was that that had 
attracted his wand. 

"There's more'n one way to find a 
spring," said man number one. " They 
say you'll always find water where there's 
ants.'' 

" Guess you'd find it in our buttery, 
then," said man number two. 




FORTUNE-TELLING 



Find a daisy ; ask it any question you 
please that can be answered by " Yes '' 
or " No," and then, one at a time, pull 
off the petals. For the first say "Yes,'' 
for the second, '' No," and so on. The 
word that falls to the last one is your 
answer. 

Have you white marks on your nails ? 
Put your hands together and say this 
rhyme while in succession you touch 
finger-tips, beginning with the thumbs : — 

A friend, 
A foe, 
A gift, 
A beau, 

A journey to go. 
48 



Notice on which iinger-nails the marks 
are, and you will thus gain some inkling 
of your fortune. 

Some authorities, however, say that 
the number of white marks on the nails 
indicate the number of lies the possessor 
has told. 

*'0h, what a mess of lies ! " comments 
one child, who notes numerous marks on 
a mate's nails. If the unhappy pos- 
sessor of the marks complains to her 
mother, she is probably told not to mind, 
as the white blotches are only spots 
where she has hit the nails in some 
way. 

CHARACTERS IN EYES. 

First form : — 

Gray eyes, greedy ; 

Blue eyes, beauty ; 

Black eyes, pig-a-pies, 

Sure to tell lies. 
Second form : — 

Black eyes, tell lies ; 

Blue eyes, pick pies ; 

Gray eyes, greedy gut, 

Eat all the world up. 
Third form : — 

Blue eyes, pick pies. 

Turn around and tell lies ; 



50 iffoxtunzMtllinQ 

Gray eyes, greedy gut, 
Eat all the world up. 

Children frequently tell fortunes on 
their buttons. A boy will find out what 
his station in life will be, and a girl the 
kind of person she is to marry, by telling 
them off, one button at a time, and say- 
ing this lingo over and over till the last 
one is reached : — 

" Rich man, poor man, beggar-man, 
thief, 
Doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief.'^ 

To kno.w what kind of clothes you are 
to wear, you say, ^^ Silks, satins, calico, 
rags,^^ over and over down to the last 
button. 

To know what kind of a vehicle you 
are to ride in, you say, ^' Coach, carriage, 
wheelbarrow, cart." 

To know what kind of a creature will 
draw your vehicle, you say, " Horse, 
cow, pig, sheep." 

To know what kind of a house you 
will live in, you say, *'Big house, little 
house, pigpen, barn." 

The list of possible residences some- 
times runs in this form : " Palace, man- 
sion, cottage, hut." 

To know what kind of a wedding-ring 



itoxtnnzMzllins 51 

you will wear, you say, "Gold, silver, 
diamond, brass.'' 

Instead of buttons you can, in this 
fortune telling, pull the petals off from 
a daisy, or the fronds one by one from 
a fern. 

Children can tell the time of day by 
*^ dandelion clocks." Take a white- 
headed dandelion, blow it three times, 
and the number of seeds that still cling 
indicate the hour. 

BIRTHDAY FORTUNES. 

Monday's child is fair of face, 
Tuesday's child is full of grace, 
Wednesday's child is sorry and sad, 
Thursday's child is merry and glad, 
Friday's child is loving and giving. 
And Saturday's child must work for a 

living ; 
But the child that is born on the Sab- 
bath Day, 
Is bonny and merry and glad and gay. 

A rather more vigorous version is the 
following : — 

Born on a Monday, fair of face ; 
Born on a Tuesday, full of God's grace ; 
Born on a Wednesday, merry and glad ; 
Born on a Thursday, sour and sad ; 



52 iffaximz^Mzllin^ 

Born on a Friday, godly given ; 
Born on a Saturday, work for a living ; 
Born on a Sunday, never shall want ; 
So there's the week and the end on't 

Some young people are fond of tell- 
ing fortunes by naming an apple and 
counting the seeds. At times this is 
done at parties ; but the place may be 
the back steps, or a seat on a convenient 
fence. A companion snaps the apple to 
be eaten with a forefinger, and, grant- 
ing the eater is a girl, gives it the name 
of some boy. When the apple is eaten 
to the core, the apple-seeds are carefully 
counted with this incantation : — 

One, I love, 

Two, I love, 

Three, I love, I say ; 

Four, I love with all my heart, 

Five, I cast away. 

Six, he loves. 

Seven, she loves. 

Eight, they both love, 

Nine, he comes. 

Ten, he tarries, 

Eleven, he courts. 

Twelve, he marries. 

The sign which goes with the final 



ffoxtum-Ezllins 53 

seed is, as matter of course, the one 
which determines the character of the 
fortune. 

Pick a dandelion top that has gone 
to seed. Say, " Does my mother want 
me?" and blow the white top with all 
your might. If all the seeds fly away, 
your mother wants you right off. If 
they do not, keep on blowing. The 
number of blows it takes to clear the 
dandelion head indicates in how many 
hours your mother wants you. 

" There was Grandmother Collins, she 
used to tell fortius," said the old man I 
was interviewing. ^^I recollect about 
one girl that went to her. She said 
that girl 'd have three beaux, and that 
she'd marry the poorest one of the three. 
It all come out just as she'd said. The 
girl had three beaux, and she took and 
married the worst one of the lot. Oh, 
she got a miserable poor man for a hus- 
band. There'd be some nights she'd 
sleep out in the cornfield, she was so 
afraid of him. 

"There was some gypsies used to 
come through here, and one of 'em was 
an Injun woman. She was married to 
one o' the men. She said she was full- 
blooded Injun. She was a very pretty 



54 StoxiunzMzllinQ 

lookin' woman, and she told fortins. 
You had to pay her a quarter. I give 
her a quarter once ; and she looked into 
my hand, and said? ^ You're goin' to be 
rich sometime,' and a lot of other stuff — 
a gret long mess on it. She didn't know 
any more about fortins 'n I do, but she 
'tended she did. 

" There is people can tell, though, and 
tell it true. I was goin' down to Spring- 
field, and I stopped at Cabotsville to see 
Jim Tinkham that I'd always known for 
a long time. We was walking down a 
street together when we come to a house 
where we see a fat woman settin' in the 
winder. Jim said she told fortins. He 
said, ' Come in, and get your fortin told, 
an' I'll pay the bill.' 

^^ So we went in. Jim give the woman 
a quarter, and she took a little grayish 
stone, and begun to point out the spots 
on'there and there along with her needle. 
She told me that on my way down I stop- 
ped in a house, and asked a young lady 
for her company, ' And she give you the 
mitten,' she said. 

" Well, that was just as it had happened 
to me. Then she told me about three 
long journeys, one of 'em way out West 
that I'd made. She told me everything 



I ever did, and she described out my 
farm better'n I could myself. 

*' I asked if I was ever goin' to get 
married agin. She looked over her stone 
and said, ' Here's lots of women I see. 
Here's lots on 'em. You c'n have 'em 
if you want 'em.' '' 

If at any time you want a yes or 
no answer to some question, just get a 
friend to gather the corners of a hand- 
kerchief up so that his hand is closed 
over the ends, except a bit of the tips. 
Then you take hold of two, and when 
you straighten the handkerchief out if 
you have got it the long way the an- 
swer is "yes'^; if the short way, ^^no.'' 

Take an apple, and pare it round and 
round so that the skin will come off in 
one continuous strand. Swing the par- 
ing around your head three times, and 
then throw it over your shoulder. It 
will, when it falls, take the form of some 
letter of the alphabet, or it ought to. 
That letter will be the initial of your 
beau's last name. If the initial won't 
fit the last name of any person you con- 
sider attractive, those who practise this 
art will allow you to try to make it fit 
some one's first name. On account of the 
curliness of the paring, the rounded let- 



56 SfOxtunzMtllins 

ters, and in particular S, occur oftenest. 
However, the letters are seldom so dis- 
tinct but that an imaginative person can 
make something satisfactory to himself 
or herself out of the paring. Some say 
that it is important that the apple used 
in this divination should be a red one. 

Pull a hair from your head, and give it 
to a friend. Next clasp your hands with 
your forefingers upright and touching 
tips. Then get your friend to draw the 
hair down between these two finger-tips. 
For the first time the hair goes through 
say " a,^^ for the second time "b,'' and 
so on through the alphabet until the hair 
breaks. The letter it breaks on is the 
initial of the one you are to marry. You 
can make your fortune much as you 
choose in this ; for you have only to 
press your fingers tightly when you come 
to the letter that suits you, and the hair 
will break on that letter. 

Eat the blossoms of three innocents, 
and the next person of the opposite sex 
that you meet will be the one you are 
to marry. 

Squeeze the yellow centre off from a 
daisy stem, throw it into the air, and 
catch what you can of it when it comes 
down. Now take the pieces youxaught, 



Jattune^gT ellfng 57 

and say a letter of the alphabet for each 
one, beginning with a, b, c. The letter 
that comes on the final piece is the 
initial of the last name of the person 
who will some day marry you. 

If a girl cuts thick slices of bread, it 
is a sign she will be a good stepmother. 




ODDS 



To cut the finger-nails on Sunday 
morning is a sign you will do something 
you are ashamed of before the week is 
out. 

An old rhyme has it : — 

It is better you were never born, 

Than on the Sabbath pare hair or horn. 

There is a finger-nail jingle for the 
days of the week: — 

Cut them on Monday, cut them for 

wealth. 
Cut them on Tuesday, cut them for 

health. 
Cut them on Wednesday, cut them for 

news. 
Cut them on Thursday, a new pair of 

shoes. 
Cut them on Friday, cut them for woe. 
Cut them on Saturday, a journey to go, 
Cut them on Sunday, cut them for evil. 
And be all the week as cross as the 

Devil. 

58 



©titis 59 



Whistle to keep your courage up. In 
particular it is well to whistle when in 
the night you have to go along a lonely 
roadway. 

Formerly many people were afraid to 
pass a graveyard after nightfall for fear 
of seeing ghosts. This fearsome feeling 
has not entirely faded out even yet. 

When the Devil comes among human- 
kind, he is fondest of taking the form of 
a black cat, but at times a black dog 
suits his purposes better. It is said, 
too, that he is pleased on occasion to 
exhibit himself in the shape of a black 
pig on the ridgepole of a house. 

Professor Charles Eliot Norton remem- 
bers that when he was a boy he, with 
some companions, met a woman whom 
the others told him was a witch. They 
said that if a knife was stuck in one of 
her footprints it would make her turn 
and look back. One of the boys got out 
his knife, and thrust the blade into one 
of the woman's footprints. The little 
company turned their eyes half fearfully 
toward the witch's receding figure ; but 
for some reason or other she failed to 
look around. 

Pass me salt, pass me sorrow. 

It used to be taken as a pretty sure 



60 ©tibg 



sign that a man was conceited if he 
went about with his hat-brim turned up 
in front. 

To use the side of the thimble instead 
of the tip to push the needle with is the 
sign of a good sewer. 

It is well to have a piece of a branch 
cut from a mountain-ash in the house. 
It is as good to keep out witches as a 
horseshoe nailed over the door. 

When a house burns, and another is 
built on the same spot, that, too, will 
burn soon. 

Just so many stitches as you take on you. 
Just so many lies you'll have told about 
you. 

To *^ take stitches on you " is to re- 
pair a garment that you are wearing at 
the time you do the sewing. 

Always pick up a pin with its head 
toward you ; for that will insure your 
having a ride soon. 

When you churn, turn the crank 
straight forwards all the time. If you 
turn it backwards, you will undo your 
work and soon bring the contents of the 
churn back to cream again. 

Wet your finger and hold it above 
your head, and it will show you which 



©tJt»0 61 



way the wind blows. It will feel coolest, 
and will dry quickest, on the side whence 
the wind comes. 

If you wipe at the same time on the 
same towel with another person, it is a 
sign you two will quarrel. 

" I don't believe half of these things 
they say are true.'' 

If you have a scratch on the back of 
your hand, and it points toward your 
thumb, it is a sign you are going to 
have a ride. If the scratch is a long 
one, the ride will be long ; if short, the 
ride will be short. 

Also : — 

Nearer the thumb, 
Sooner it'll come. 

If the bottom of your foot itches, you 
may know that you are to step on 
strange lands. 

When a spark forms on the end of 
the wick in the candle-flame, moisten 
the tip of your finger with your tongue, 
touch the spark lightly with it, and if 
it adheres to your finger, you can confi- 
dently look for a letter within a day or 
two. 

If you put on both stocking and shoe 
on one foot before putting on the stock- 



62 ©btjg 



ing on the other foot, it is the sign that 
you are to meet with an accident. 

Sing before breakfast, cry before sup- 
per. 

If your nose itches, you may know 
that you are going to quarrel. Others 
have it that this is a sign you are going 
to get mad. 

Pull out a hair, touch it with the flame 
of a match, and if it curls up quickly it 
is a sign you are cross in your disposi- 
tion. Instead of using fire, you can, if 
you choose, pull the hair between a finger 
and the thumb nail to discover whether it 
will curl up quickly or not. 

Pull out a gray hair, and ten or twelve 
will come in its place. 

If you pull one of your fingers, and 
the joint cracks, it is a sign you have 
told a lie. 

Broad finger-nails indicate generos- 
ity. Long finger-nails indicate a lack of 
thrift. 

If you go out visiting on Monday, it is 
a sign you will go out visiting every day 
that week. 

On the inner side of a horse's legs is 
a horny scab about the size of a dollar. 
It used to be said that flakes from this 
made excellent bait for fishing. 



©tJtiS 63 



A sore on the tip of the tongue is a 
sign you have told a lie. 

If a person's front teeth are far apart, 
it is a sign that person is going to be 
a wanderer. 

Put the wrong foot out of bed first 
when you get up in the morning, and 
you will be cross all day. Always get 
up right foot foremost. 

If you take hold of a chair, and twist 
it about on one leg, it is a sign you are 
going to quarrel. 

When we have one fire in town, there's 
always three in a short time. 

Wash and wipe together, 
Live in peace forever. 

Bright red auroras were formerly said 
to be the sign that a great battle had 
been fought, or was soon to be fought. 
Its flaming streamers betokened blood 
and slaughter. There was this fiery 
omen in the sky at the time of the battle 
of Bunker Hill, and other contests of the 
Revolution, as well as of the older French 
and Indian wars. 

Often when two persons make a bar- 
gain they at its conclusion '' Shake hands 
on it" to make it binding. 

When you get up in the morning be 



64 ©bUfif 



sure to dress your right foot first. If 
you don't, you will meet with a disap- 
pointment that day. 

When a girl asked her mother on which 
side she should make the buttonholes in 
a garment she was making, the mother 
would respond, " Always make them on 
the left side. Remember this, that you 
don't want to be on the buttonhole side 
of heaven, and you won't have to ask 
again. '^ This refers to the parable where- 
in the goats were divided from the sheep, 
and went to the left of the throne. 

In haying time, if you can " step your 
shadow,'' it is noon. This means that 
you must be able to step on the shadow 
of your head. You cannot do this in 
northern countries except on summer 
noons when shadows are short. 

Step over the graves in the cemetery 
or go around them. If you walk on 
them, woe will come to you in some 
form. 

If you eat crumbs 'twill make you wise, 
If you leave the crust 
You're sure to bust. 

This is schoolboy poetry recited to a 
mate who, in eating his lunch, throws 
away the crust. 



mti^ 65 



" There's a good deal of pizen in peo- 
ple, especially in red-headed men. All 
folks hev some, but there's more pizen 
in a red-headed man than in a man that 
has black hair — a good deal. In Lon- 
don, a red-headed man that was a sailor 
sold himself to a doctor for quite a sum 
of money. 

" The doctor strung him up by his 
heels, and put a toad at his mouth ; and 
the man died, and a great lot of green, 
nasty-looking pizen oozed out that the 
doctor said was very valuable." 

Drop a dish of victuals, and you will 
hear bad news. 

Grass will not grow under a '' gallus " 
where a man has been hung. 

Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger, 
Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger, 
Sneeze on Wednesday, sneeze for a let- 
ter, 
Sneeze on Thursday, for something 

better. 
Sneeze on Friday, sneeze for sorrow. 
Sneeze on Saturday, see your sweet- 
heart to-morrow, 
Sneeze on Sunday, your safely seek, 
The Devil'll have you the rest of the 
week. 



66 mtiQ 



When a child gets dizzy whirling, he 
needs only to whirl in the opposite di- 
rection to turn himself back to stability. 

When you comb your hair, don't burn 
such as gathers on your comb. If you 
do, it will make you cross. 

Don't have any metal about you when 
there is a thunder-storm. It will draw 
the lightning, and you will like enough 
get struck. The boys who understand 
this take care not to have a jacknife or 
any such thing on their persons in thun- 
der-storms, and some women when they 
hear the storm's muttering approach take 
off their rings, hide the scissors, and 
cover the sewing-machine. There are 
those who shut the blinds, and draw the 
curtains to keep out sight and sound, 
and then lie down on a feather bed to 
wait for the storm to pass. 

If the back of your legs itch, you may 
know that you are to go on a long journey. 

When you play hi-spy, and are ^4t,'' 
and want to know where the others have 
hid, take a stick and put it up on end 
and let it fall. If it falls three times in 
the same direction, that shows you the 
way to go to find the hiders. 

After you have had a tooth pulled out, 
don't touch the cavity with your tongue, 



©titjg; 67 



and the next tooth that comes will be a 
gold tooth. 

When you move to a new house always 
send beforehand a loaf of bread and a 
new broom. 

Sneeze early and you will hear some 
news, or get a present that same day. 

Button your coat wrong, or draw on a 
stocking inside out, and matters will go 
crooked that day. 

Rock an empty cradle, and you will 
injure the child that usually sleeps in it. 

When, in pitching up hay, your fork 
gets caught and taken up on the load, 
you have lost a day's work. That is, 
your work won't amount to anything 
that day, or else you'll never get any 
pay for it. 

Drop your hoe or your rake, and you 
will likewise lose a day's work. 

Talk to yourself, and you talk to the 
Devil. 

If the basting-threads are in a gar- 
ment, that is a sign it is not paid for. 

It is a sign a man's clothes are not 
paid for if the little size cards are still 
on them. 

It is a good sign to take out your 
work; that is, if you have to pull out 
your stitches because you have made a 



68 ©titig 



mistake. It proves that you will live to 
wear the garment out. 

Do you want to know whether you 
love butter or not? Get some one to 
hold a buttercup under your chin. If 
they can see a yellow reflection from its 
burnished petals on your chin, then you 
do love butter. If not, you don't. 

Stumpy fingers are a sign that one 
must work for a living. 

You can get a hundred dollars for a 
million old postage-stamps. I never 
heard that any one got that many, nor 
can I find out who is going to pay the 
hundred dollars, but a good many young 
people in the cities have made up their 
minds to collect the million stamps. 
They are most successful when they or 
their friends can pick over the letters 
that come to offices or stores. I sup- 
pose if one could average a hundred 
stamps every week-day the year through, 
he would be doing pretty well. At that 
rate, if the collector persevered, he 
would get his million stamps in about 
thirty years. If he spent ten minutes 
a day soaking off, drying, and caring 
for the stamps, he would in that length 
of time put in three hundred full days 
of ten hours each. When he received 



©titig 69 



his hundred dollars, he would therefore 
be paid for his time at the rate of thirty- 
three and one-third cents a day. 

When the bars of the northern lights 
shoot up in a cone shape, like guns 
stacked, that is a sure sign of war. 

If you want the cake you make to be 
light, stir the batter only one way. 

Hemlock-trees attract lightning. It 
is said that you need put no lightning- 
rods on your buildings if you will only 
set up a tall hemlock pole near them. 
The lightning will hit that pole, rather 
than the buildings, every time. 

All sound-minded people have the 
largest- half of their heads in front of 
their ears, A man with the heaviest 
part of his head back of his ears you 
may be pretty sure is an idiot. 

Sleep before midnight is *' beauty 
sleep." Therefore if you wish to be 
handsome go to bed early. 




FRIENDS 



Gain a day, and you gain a 
friend ; as, for instance, when it is 
Thursday and you think it is Friday. 
Lose a day, and you lose a friend. 

Never give a friend a pin. It 

will spoil your friendship. To guard 

against this, and at the same time 

to accommodate your friend, you 

can say : " I will not give you the 

pin, but I will lend it to you for 

ninety-nine years/' 

When a friend leaves you, don't watch 

the friend out of sight, for the person 

who is watched out of sight will never 

be seen by you again if you do. 

When you and a companion are walk- 
ing together, don't allow a third person 
to go between you. If you do, it will 
cut your friendship. Nevertheless, if, 
in spite of precautions, this should hap- 
pen, say, " Bread and butter," and the 
fates will be propitiated. 

Nor should you, when walking with a 
friend, let a tree separate you. If this 
70 



Jrienlis 71 



occurs, the best thing to do is for one 
of you to retrace your steps, and come 
past the tree on the side your friend 
took. 

Don't make a friend a present of a 
knife; for, according to every authority 
versed in sign lore, if you do, it will cut 
your friendship. All sharp-edged tools 
are equally unfitted as presents for the 
same reason. 

"There was Sue Perkins, years ago, 
and Harry Wright was keepin' company 
with her. One day he gave her a pair 
of scissors. They was beautiful scissors 
too. Some of 'em told her not to take 
'em, and said it would cut their friend- 
ship. But she said she didn't care any- 
thing about their signs. ' We sha'n't 
have any trouble between us. I know 
we won't,' she said. But I'll be blamed 
if they didn't have a row inside of a 
month, and Harry Wright stopped callin', 
and Sue Perkins lived and died an old 
maid.'' 




WISHES 



If for seven consecutive nights you 
can see one star before any others are 
in sight, and will repeat this rhyme 
each time without saying anything to 
any one, you can make any wish you 
choose and it will come true. 

Star light, star bright. 

First star I see to-night; 

I wish I could, I wish I might 

Have the wish I wish to-night. 

Others say this when they see the 
first star : — 

Star light, star bright. 

The first I've seen to-night, 

I wish — I wish — 

Then they tell what they wish. 

72 



TOfsfjes 73 



Still others say : — 



The first star bright I've seen to- 
night, 

May I see somebody I don't expect 
to see. 

The first form of this wish has to be 
repeated three times. 

When you see the first robin in the 
spring, wish, and your wish will come to 
pass. In this, as in all wishing-spells, 
you must be careful not to tell any one. 
If you do, the first robin will be quite 
ineffectual as an aid to the realization 
of wishes. You must be careful also 
not to speak until you have wished, for 
that, too, will break the spell. " I 
wished on robins for a good many years. 
There's no harm in wishing, you know, 
if you wish good wishes.'' 

Wish on the first frogs you hear in 
the spring, tell no one, and the wish will 
come true. 

Notice the white horses that pass, 
count them up to three, and shake hands 
with somebody. Then you can make a 
wish, and it will come true. 

The forked bone just in front of the 
breast-bone of a chicken or other fowl is 
known as the wish-bone. If this bone 



74 OTtsfjeg 



chances to fall to you, preserve it, and 
put it on the shelf behind the stove to 
dry. When properly seasoned you take 
hold of one end, let a friend take hold 
of the other, each make a wish, and 
then both pull. The wish of the one 
that has the top with his piece when it 
breaks will come true. 

Find a white-headed dandelion, make 
a wish, and then try to blow the seeds 
off with one breath. If the seeds all 
leave at one blow, your wish will come 
true. Otherwise it will not. 



MEDICINAL 

When you have the rheumatism, 
carry a potato in your pocket. The 
potato will become hard after a 
time, and believers in its virtues 
affirm that this is because of the 
rheumatism it has absorbed. 

Eat poison ivy, and it will never 
poison you afterward. When this 
remedy is mentioned, the com- 
ment usually is, *' Well, I guess it 
wouldn't. You wouldn't live to 
give it the chance.'' 

When a child has fits, the parents 
sometimes get a puppy for the child to 
play with and sleep with. The belief is 
that the dog will take the disease, and 
that as the dog grows worse the child 
will grow better. When the dog dies, 
the child will be completely cured. 

Carry a horse-chestnut in your pocket 
and you will not be troubled by rheu- 
matism. 

The child that wears a black silk cord 
around its neck will not have the croup. 
75 



76 ilHetJicmal 



The black silk cord so worn is likewise 
good to keep off the diphtheria. 

If a young person sleeps with an 
elderly person the latter will weaken the 
former by drawing vitality from the 
young person. The elder is not sup- 
posed to get any benefit from the fact. 

Prick a sty with a pricker off a goose- 
berry bush, and it will get well at 
once. 

Rub a sty with a wedding-ring, and it 
will go off. 

Pull an eyewinker from the sty, and 
that will be the end of it. 

Some prefer to make sure of a sty's 
leaving by touching it with the tail of a 
black cat. 

INDIAN MAGIC. 

In ye olden time one of the farmers 
at Hadley, Mass., had the misfortune to 
cut his foot while chopping in the woods. 
Moreover, the wound was so grievous it 
refused to heal. Neither the home poul- 
tices nor the doctor's lotions had any 
effect, and the man began to fear that 
these were his last days. While things 
were thus, going from bad to worse, an 
Indian woman heard of the case, and 
offered to heal the man's wound. Her 
services were accepted, and she asked 



JHetiicinal 77 



for the axe which made the cut. When 
it was given to her, she did the axe-helve 
up carefully in salve, and the man's 
wound got well right off. 

Wear a red string around your neck 
to keep off rheumatism. 

Carry an onion in your pocket, and 
you will not have fits. 

Carry camphor-gum, and you will not 
catch small-pox or contagious diseases. 

'' I had a great-aunt that used to have 
the cramp terrible till some one told her 
to tie a cotton string around her ankle. 
After that she never had a cramp to the 
end of her days." 

The gall of rattlesnakes used to be 
thought excellent as a cure for bilious- 
ness. 

Wear an eelskin around your waist to 
keep off rheumatism. Some say they 
had rather have the rheumatism. 

Carry a piece of brimstone to keep 
off the itch. Some people carry it to 
keep off scarlet fever and other conta- 
gious diseases. Others wear a little bag 
of sulphur hung by a string around the 
neck. There are those who carry a 
lump of sulphur in their pocket, and 
they will get it out and sniff it vigor- 
ously when they think themselves in 
danger. 



78 MMciml 



If a bald-headed man washes his head 
with sage tea, it will make a new growth 
of hair come out. 

The use of tobacco is believed to pre- 
vent one's taking diseases. 

The sick person that shows an incli- 
nation to stretch will get well. 

If a sick person itches, he will get 
well. 

If he is cross, he will get well. 

*' That isn't always so. There was a 
man in our town who was very sick, and 
his wife did something or other he didn't 
like, and he sat right up in bed and 
swore at her, and the next instant he 
fell over dead.^' 

Put the first aching tooth you have 
pulled in a glass of whiskey. Then 
drink the w^hiskey, and you will never 
have occasion to have another tooth 
pulled because it aches. 

Carry an onion with you to keep off 
diseases. You can't take a disease from 
any odor that the onion scent is strong 
enough to overcome so that you don't 
smell it. Indeed, whatever you can't 
smell won't harm you, onion or no 
onion. But if you think you smell a 
disease, even if you don't, you are liable 
to have that disease. 



MMtiml 79 



A good way to keep from having 
cramps is to wear an eelskin around 
your ankle. 

Read gravestone epitaphs, and you 
will lose your memory. 

When you want to go to sleep and 
can't, count up to twenty-three hun- 
dred. 

If that doesn't work, just imagine a 
crow flying round and round up in the 
sky in large circles. 

Sleep with a piece of steel under your 
pillow, and you will not have the rheuma- 
tism. I have heard of one woman who 
always put her scissors under her pillow, * 
when bedtime came, for this purpose. 

" Do you ever have the nightmare ? 
Well, sir, my father used to have night- 
mare right along every night. He'd be 
all of a didder — shakin' and shudderin' 
till my mother'd take hold of him and 
wake him up. That'd bring him right 
out of 'em. 

''One time he went away from home, 
and it come night and they was sittin' 
around in the tavern bar-room, and he 
told one o' the men there that he really 
dreaded to go to bed. He told him how 
he always had the nightmare, and how, 
bein' away from home, he wouldn't have 



80 Mttiitiml 



his wife to wake him up. He said he 
was afraid he might die in it. 

"'Well/ says the man, ' I'll tell you a 
cure for that ; and if it don't work when 
you try it to-night, I'll stand drinks for 
the crowd in the mornin'. If it does 
work, you c'n stand the drinks.' 

"There was fifteen or twenty men 
there ; but father agreed, for he knew if 
he got a sure cure for those nightmares, 
it'd be worth it. 

" So the man says, ' Now, when you 
go to bed, you just smell your stock- 
in 's after you take 'em off. That's all 
you've got to do, and you won't have no 
nightmare to-night, I'll warrant you.' 

" Father did it, and it was just as the 
man said. Now, if any of your friends 
have the nightmare, you want to tell 
'em of that, and they'll thank ye for it 
when they've found out how sure it 
cures 'em." 

If your right nostril bleeds, you can 
stop it by tying a cord tight around your 
left little finger. If it is your left nostril 
that bleeds, tie the cord around the right 
little finger. 

" My brother used to be quite a hand 
to have cramps. Finally some one told 
him that when he had 'em he must wet 



MMtiml 81 



his finger, and make a cross right on the 
calf of his leg. He done it, and it cured 
him every time. He says he don't know 
of anything better'n that for cramps.'' 

Wear a piece of red woollen yarn 
around your neck, and it will keep you 
from having the nosebleed. " My brother 
had to do that." 

If you have a sore throat, tie one of 
the stockings you have worn through the 
day around your neck when you go to 
bed. The sore throat can't stand that, 
and will have left by morning. The 
stocking should be tied on with the hol- 
low of the foot next to the throat. 

Some people keep themselves from 
taking contagious diseases by wearing 
a silver piece on a string around their 
neck. When, presently, the silver piece 
turns black, they know the silver has 
done good work in absorbing diseases 
that otherwise might have killed them. 
From a physician's point of view, how- 
ever, this black on the coin is the effect 
on the silver of the sulphur in the secre- 
tions of the skin. 

A good many people have an idea that 
a person enjoys better health, and lives 
longer, if he is in the habit of sleeping 
with his head to the north. The impor- 



82 Mt'^itiml 



tant point is not that the head is to the 
north, but that the electric pole is in that 
direction. 

Some people prefer to jj^eep with the 
head to the east. It is in that direction 
that the earth turns, and they think it 
healthier to be projected through space 
head first. 

Wear a tarred string around your neck 
to keep you from taking contagious dis- 
eases. 

If you want to go to sleep and can't, 
just imagine two hundred sheep going 
through some bars one at a time. Count 
'em up slow, and it will put you to sleep 
sure before you get to the last one. It 
takes your mind, you see. 

Trim your finger-nails on Friday, and 
you will not have the toothache for a 
week. 

Eat pudding and milk, and it will make 
your hair curl. If it suits your taste 
better, you can eat crusts of bread ; for 
that, too, will make your hair curl. 

You can stop another person's bleed- 
ing by touching the cut, bruise, or what- 
ever it is, with your finger, and saying, 
*^I bequeath thee not to bleed, not to 
fester, not to canker, nor to swell, but 
to heal. In the name of God, amen." 



jTOgHicmal 83 

You need not say this aloud unless you 
choose. The bleeding will stop at once. 
This works on animals as well as people. 

If your eyes are weak, have your ears 
bored just as you would for earrings. 
That will help make your eyes strong. 

You can cure another person's head- 
ache by rubbing the aching one's head. 
The headache will presently leave the 
sufferer, and you will have it yourself, 
but less severely. A rheumatic shoulder 
treated in the same way brings the same 
results. 

'' I don't like to believe in presenti- 
ments and things of that sort, but I do 
have spells of believing. It's mostly 
your imagination that's queer, though. 
There was a fellow once that worked in 
a mill in Holyoke, and the fellows got 
hold of his hat one morning and tight- 
ened the band. Then they told him his 
head was swollen dreadfully. 

" He didn't think so ; but they got him 
to try on his hat, and it wouldn't go on. 
They said he looked sick, and he looked 
in the glass and said he believed he did 
look sick; he hadn't thought of it be- 
fore, and he went home feeling pretty 
badly off.'' 

Soon after the war, it was discovered 



84 iWeUfcinal 



by one of our American physicians that 
certain rays from the sun possessed 
marked curative qualities. The blue 
rays, in particular, had reniarkable vir- 
tues. This gave rise to what was known 
as ^' The blue glass craze." For a few 
months a great deal was published in 
the papers on the subject, and it was 
a common topic of conversation. Peo- 
ple had blue panes of glass put into 
their windows, or they covered their win- 
dow panes with blue tissue for the light 
to fall through. Some had glas *5um- 
mer-houses made all in blue, and lived in 
them much of their time. Others made 
blue glass sanitariums of the upper story 
of their houses by putting in blue sky- 
lights. 

Many marvellous cures were effected, 
but the agitation and the interest in the 
matter passed away as quickly as does 
a summer day's thunder-storm. It was 
claimed that a sunbath under this blue 
glass was good for diseases of all kinds, 
and that blue glass was also good to 
assist vegetation. In fact, the believers 
in its virtues used it over their hotbeds. 



THE FARM 



If the sun shines through the limbs 
of the apple-trees on Christmas Day, 
there will be a good crop of fruit next 
year. 

Plant a bean with the eye up, and it 
will grow straight down through the 
earth to China. 

When you have a kettle of fat pork 
on the stove that you are trying down 
into lard, and want to know if it is done, 
put a match into it. If the match light?, 
the lard is done. If it doesn't light, 
keep on ^cooking your lard. 

When you have land to clear up, chop 
the trees and cut the brush "when the 
sign is in the heart,'' and you will be 
sure to kill these growths. 

If you have a tree that bears no fruit, 
put a stone in its first crotch just before 
blossoming-time. The tree will surely 
be fruitful after that. 
85 



86 Eliz JFarm 



Great was the belief at one time 
among the farmers in plaster as a fer- 
tilizer. Vast quantities were sowed on 
the land. It was affirmed that its power 
was such that if you used it in a field 
next to that of a neighbor who did not, 
it would draw his manure right over the 
fence. To-day plaster is a thing of the 
past, and the farmer questions if he ever 
got any particular benefit from its use. 

There are now few farmers who have 
a regular habit of soaking their wagon- 
wheels, but it is not difficult to find 
those who, when on a journey, take 
such opportunities as offer themselves 
along the road to give their wheels a 
wetting. The object is to make the 
wood swell, and keep the spokes from 
rattling and the wheels themselves from 
tumbling to pieces. On country roads 
there is once in a while a place where 
at one side of a bridge that crosses a 
little brook is a track by which you can 
drive down and through the water. If 
you take this side path and ford the 
stream, you can accomplish three ob- 
jects, — wet your wheels, water your 
horse, and soak the horse's hoofs. But 
the farmer who wants to do the soaking 
thoroughly stops at every wayside wa- 



Eiit jFarm 87 



tering trough, and pours a few pailfuls 
over his wheels. 

Years ago a farmer who was going on 
a long trip would, the night before, 
sometimes set his wheels in the long 
log watering-trough in the barnyard, 
and turn them occasionally to make the 
soaking complete. In Europe farmers, 
on the evening before a journey, have 
been known to throw their wheels into 
a pond, when one was handy, and leave 
them over night. 

A New England farmer who took this 
method of soaking the wheels of one of 
his old wagons had them all carried off 
by one of the town deacons who thought 
they had been thrown away. 

The general effect on the wheels of 
this soaking process is to keep them 
expanding and shrinking. The tempo- 
rary effect is all right, but in the end 
decay and decrepitude are hastened. 




LUCK 

To find a horse- 
shoe in the road 
is a sign of good 
luck. Many of. 
the poorer farm- 
houses of New 
England have a 
horseshoe tacked 
up over an outer 
entrance for good 
luck. 

In times past, 
and those not 
very far removed, 
the object of the 
horseshoe over 
the door was to 
keep out the witches. 
The horseshoe should be put up 
with the curve downward. If the open 
end is down, all your luck will run out. 

Carry a lucky-bone, and nothing will 
harm you. This bone is from the head 
of a codfish. It is shell-like and narrow, 
88 



ILuck 89 



with a length of three-fourths of an inch. 
The edge is notched, and the color is a 
pearly white — very pretty. 

Jt is a good i^lan to carry two lucky- 
bones. 'I'hat will make your luck doubly 
sure. They should be both from the 
head of the same fish. 

When you drop your bread and but- 
ter and it falls butter-side down, bad 
luck is not very far ofT. 'I'here are 
those that affirm that the bread always 
drops butter-side down. 

When you move from one habitation 
to another, don't take the cat with you. 
Bad luck will follow if you do. 

\Mien you play cards and have bad 
luck, get up and go around your chair. 
A still easier way to turn your lucl^ is 
to blow in the cards. 

When fishing, spit on your bait for 
good luck. Certain of the most igno- 
rant class will spit on money for good 
luck. 

When you start on an errand or a 
journey, don't turn back, no matter what 
you may have forgotten. If you do, ill 
luck in some form will overtake you. 

'• Some people who get started, and 
then think of something they've forgot 
before they've got out of sight and hear- 



90 luck 



ing of the house, will stand rigiit there 
'and holier half an hour for some one to 
fetch it, rafher than go back." 

See a pin and let it lie, 
Come to sorrow by-and-by. 

Another version is : — 

See a pin and kt it lay, 

Want you will and want you may. 

Another couplet is: — 

Sue a j)in and pic'v it up, 

All tlic day you'll have good luck. 

Others repeat this rhyme: — 

See a pin and let it lie, 
IJad luck you'll have until you die, 
( )r : - - 

NOu'll want that pin before you die. 

It is d sign of good luck to fall up 
hill. 

It is unlucky to get out of bed on the 
side opposite to the accustomed one. 
The person who shows signs of cross- 
ness is always liable to be reminded of 
it l)y the remark, ** Well, guess vou got 
out of tlie wrong side of your bed this 
morning." 

If a spider spins down from the ceil- 



ILucfe 91 



ing toward you, he will bring you good 
luck. 

If you trip up on something, it is a 
sign of bad luck. The best thing for 
you to do in such a case is to go back 
and walk it over. 

If it is a stone you have fallen over, 
go back and touch it. 

When a ring on the finger has been 
wished on, or was placed there by some 
one else, it will bring bad luck if you 
allow it to be removed. 

If, when you start on a journey, you 
forget something and have to return, sit 
down before you again start, or the j<jur- 
ney will be unhieky. 

If you put on your apron wrong side 
out, wear it so, (»r in making the change 
you will change your luck. This applies 
as well to the putting on of a stocking 
wrong side out, or any other article of 
apparel. 

Some say that it is safe to rigiit the 
garment if you take pains to ward off 
the impending woe by spitting on the 
garment. To do tliis genteelly, you need 
only to moisten the fingcr-tip with the 
tongue, and touch tlie wrong garment. 
Then you can turn the garment again 
and no harm will result. 



92 Euck 



If you spill your salt at the table, it 
is a sign you will quarrel with your best 
friend. You can break the compelling 
spell of this accident by throwing on 
the stove the salt that was spilled. 

Others have it that spilling salt means 
simply bad luck, and that you can break 
the spell by throw a pinch of it over the 
left shoulder. 

Along the shores of many of our 
streams live numerous families of water- 
bugs that have hard and shiny black 
backs, and that, when in motion, skim 
about on the surface with great activity. 
They are called ** Lucky bugs,'' and it is 
well known among the boys that to catch 
one brings good fortune. 

When a pointed objectyou have thrown 
or dropped sticks up in the ground or 
floor, it is a sign of good luck. 

The finding anything which has any 
value is a sign of good luck. 

**iMy brother found a penny one day 
by the doorstep at the schoolliouse. He 
had good luck afterwards, but I've for- 
gotten what 'twas." 

The finding a penny is surer to bring 
you good luck than almost anything else. 
Don't spend it, but keep it, and carry it 
for a *Mucky penny." It will bring you 



ILudk irs 



good fortune ; but if you spend it, or lose 
it, you will have bad luck, or, at any rate, 
a sort of indifferent luck such as any one 
might have. 

If a strange dog or cat comes to you 
and makes its home with you, it will 
bring you good luck ; and a black cat 
brings its owner good luck. 

To carry a hoe into the house is a 
sign of bad luck. 

Be particular to put your right foot 
foremost when you leave the house, or 
ill luck will betide you. 

Carry a large old-fashioned cent for a 
"pocket piece." It will bring you good 
luck. 

A five-dollar gold piece is also sup- 
posed to be a lucky coin, and a bright 
new penny has virtues in the same 
line. The former may be kept laid 
away in a drawer to liand d(nvn as an 
heirloom. 

If the first object you meet when you 
start on a journey is a woman or a cat, 
you will have bad luck before you return. 
If the woman is barefoot, it portends 
such a degree of bad luck as makes it 
best to turn back and not go that day. 

When you start on a journey, have a 
care not to put your left arm into your 



94 Hucfe 



jacket first. Such a proceeding would 
bring i\\ luck. ' 

When you take a piece of cake on 
your plate, and it tips over on its side, 
that is a sign of bad luck. 

See that all the wedding-cake is eaten, 
for then the married pair will have good 
luck. 

If an even number of crows flies over- 
head, it is a sign of bad luck. 

Put on your vest wrong side out, and 
you will change your luck if you turn it 
right. 

Friday is an unlucky day, and it is 
therefore unwise to begin any work on 
that day. Many people would not think 
of marrying, or starting on a journey, on 
the *' Hangman's Day.'' 

To have a hen crow is a sign of bad 
luck. 

It is a sign of good luck to find a 
four-leaf clover. 

When you are on a journey, and see 
a squirrel run across the road in front 
of you, note his direction. If he went 
across to the riirlit, vou will have ^^ood 
luck, if to the left, bad luck. 

If you buy the materials for a new 
dress and do not make it up before vou 
are married, vou will liive vcrv bad luck. 



ln(M 95 



Spiders carry good luck with them. 
Some people will not kill them for fear 
of spoiling their luck. 

If you find the cat sitting with her 
tail to the fire, expect had luck. 

You will have bad luck if when you 
get out of bed you rise backwards. Vou 
should get up face forwards. 

There is luck in odd numbers. 

There is, once in a while, a man who, 
when he sneezes, says, ''(lod bless it," 
that the sneeze may bring him good 
luck. If he hears some one else sneeze, 
he helps them to good luck by saying, 
" (jod bless you." 

Don't pass uiulcr a ladder ; it will 
make you have bad luck. 

Rock an empty chair, and you will 
bring bad luck. 

It is unlucky to meet a Hock of sheep. 

It is unlucky to meet a drove of pigs. 

It is bad luck to turn over in bed. 
The boy who made this affirmation said 
he had heard of two men who slept to- 
gether, and who always woke up at mid- 
night, and got out each on liis side of 
the bed, and ran around the foot and 
got in on the other side. Thus they 
adjusted themselves to a new position 
without turniiiLT o\er in bed. 




SNAKES 

** The way a snake catclics birds and 
frogs and things is not by chasing and 
grabbing them, but by charming them. 
It just gets its eyes on their eyes, and 
runs its tongue out and in, and then 
the bird can't move if it wanted to. 
The snake keeps tliat up a while, and 
then he can take liis own time about 
(Ic)in' the swallcrin'. \uu have to be 
kind o' careful yourself about not bein' 
charmed, specially by black snakes. 
I know there was some of the children 
out berrying one time, dnd Sarah Hill 
came near bein' charmed. They thought 
she wascomin' along all right, when they 
noticed she warn't with *em. They 
ran back then, and Sarah was slandin' 
1»0 



Snafees 97 



still lookin' right into a bush. They 
told her to come along, and she didn't 
say a word. Then they tried to pull 
her away ; but she said, ^ Don't,' be- 
cause she saw such beautiful sights. 
Well, there was a black snake in that 
bush, and she was bein' charmed by it. 
Little more'n she might a got bit." 

When a snake proposes to charm you, 
it looks you straight in the eye in such 
a sinister and unwinking way that you 
are fascinated and paralyzed. 

I was told the story of a boy who 
was charmed one day. His companions 
found him looking at a snake and mak- 
ing a strange kind of noise. He did 
not come to himself until they killed 
the snake, and broke the spell. 

An old farmer told me that one morn- 
ing when he was out mowing his atten- 
tion was attracted by a bird fluttering 
around a bush in a queer kind of way. 
" It was makin' sort of a mournful 
noise, and flutterin' round and round 
close to the bush. I went along up to 
the bush to see what the matter was. 
Then I see there was an adder in there 
watching of it, and its nest was in that 
bush. The snake was charming it ; for 
I no sooner give the bush a little shake 



98 ^nakeg 



and took the snake's attention, than 
away the bird went as quick as a flash. 

*' I s'pose most any kind of a snake 
will charm birds and such things ; but 
I don't s'pose these striped snakes 
are powerful enough to charm people. 
Black snakes and rattlers will, though. 
My uncle got charmed once. He was 
goin' along through the woods with my 
father when he stopped and was gettin' 
left behind. My father called to him to 
come along ; but he didn't pay no at- 
tention — just kep^ lookin' at somethin'. 
My father see he was gettin' charmed by 
a snake. So he went back and give him 
a yank, and then they killed the snake. 
He said he wanted to come when father 
called him, but he couldn't. He said 
that he saw everything that was pretty, 
— all the colors he ever thought of and 
more too, and they seemed to be right 
in the snake's eyes.'' 

Many still believe that in drinking 
from brooks one runs the risk of swal- 
lowing a young snake, which is liable to 
grow in the stomach, and become large 
and troublesome. In support of this 
idea, it is related that once there was a 
certain child that took large quantities 
of food, in particular a great deal of 



'^'^ 



Snakegi 99 



milk, yet became more and more ema- 
ciated. One night when the child was 
sitting at the table with a bowl of milk 
before it, of which it had not eaten, a 
great snake put its head out of the 
child's mouth. Apparently it was hun- 
gry, had scented the milk, and came 
up out of the child's stomach to get 
it. The child's father was by, and he 
gripped the snake by the neck, and 
pulled it out. It was four feet long. 

Some say that instead of a bowl of 
milk on the table, it was a pailful on the 
kitchen-floor fresh from the cow. 

Another telling of the story has it that 
a woman swallowed the snake. As it 
grew she was in great distress, so that 
finally she could not eat. At length her 
friends laid her down with her stomach 
on a chair, and put a basin of steaming 
hot food on the floor before her. That 
brought out the snake, and the woman 
got well. 

It is bad enough to have a snake in 
your stomach, but you are even worse 
off if you meet with one of these hoop- 
snakes. Let one of those chase you, 
and you are a goner. They ain't afraid 
of a man no more'n nothin', and they 
can run faster'n any horse goin'. The 



100 Snakes 



way the snake does is to pick its tail 
up in its mouth, arid then whirl over 
and over like a hoop. His tail is sharp- 
pointed and hard like a spike. When 
he catches up with you, he just takes 
his tail out of his mouth, and jabs it into 
you. Oh, I tell you, you'd better swallow 
a dozen snakes rather'n get one o' these 
hoop-snakes after you. 

It is said that when a hoop-snake 
strikes a man it " blasts '' him. I sup- 




pose that means he is paralyzed, turns 
black, shrivels up, and like enough 
blows away. When one of these hoop- 
snakes strikes its tail into anything 
wooden, — a hoe-handle, for instance, — 
it shivers the wood into splinters, just 
as if it had been struck by lightning. 

Another snake you want to beware of 
is the *' black racer snake." It is said 



^nafeeg 101 

that he has a bluish tinge, and that he 
will chase a man whenever he gets sight 
of one. 

Kill the first snake, 

And break the first brake, 

And you will conquer all you undertake. 

That is, the first snake and the first 
brake seen in the spring. 

Put a horse-hair in water, and it will 
turn into a snake. This superstition 
has two facts behind it which give it a 
semblance of truth. Firstly, a horse- 
hair put in water will twist and curl 
quite curiously. Secondly, there is a 
kind of worm sometimes seen in stag- 
nant pools which strongly resembles a 
coarse horse-hair. 

Cut a snake's tail off, and the tail will 
not die until the sun goes down. The 
basis of this saying is that it is a fact 
that the tail will continue to wriggle 
and show signs of life long after it is 
separated from the body. 

Some authorities affirm that you can 
cut a snake all to pieces, and its parts 
will not cease to move till the end -of 
the day. : 

If, after cutting a snake in two, you 
put the parts into water, they will unite 
into a whole snake again. 



102 Snakes 



Most persons who meet a snake either 
run off or try to kill it. Many snakes 
are known to be harmless, and even 
useful. People kill them because they 
are unpleasant looking creatures, and 
because it is the fashion. But besides, 
there is an inherited and underlying 
reason, which is that it is understood 
that God put a curse on snakes in the 
Bible, and has commanded that they be 
killed. 

" I've hearn 'em tell about how that 
there was a little girl once that always 
used to eat her dinner out-doors when it 
was good weather. She'd get her plate 
full, and then she'd go off out back o' 
the barn somewhere, and nobody didn't 
know what she went off like that for. So 
after a while her folks followed her ; and 
she went along out there by a stone wall 
and set down, and she rapped on her 
plate, and out there come a big rattle- 
snake, and went to eatin' off the plate 
with her. And when the snake got over 
on to her side of the plate too much, 
she'd rap him with her spoon, and push 
him away, and say, " Keep back, Gray- 
coat, on your own side." Her folks 
didn't like to have her eatin' with a 
snake that way, and they sent her off 



Snafeea 103 



to stay somewhere else. When she was 
gone, they went and killed the snake. 
Bimeby the little girl come home again, 
and then she found out her snake was 
killed. Arter that she kind o' pined 
away and died. 

" I've hearn 'em tell about that a good 
many times, and I s'pose that's a pretty 
true story." 

THE POWER OF IRISH EARTH 

*' St. Patrick, as is well known, ban- 
ished all snakes from Ireland some hun- 
dreds of years ago. There isn't a snake 
in the whole country — they can't live 
there. You may take a snake into Ire- 
land in a big bottle, and as long as 
you keep the cork in, he's all right; 
but let him breathe the air, or let him 
touch the earth or water anywhere in 
Ireland, I don't care where, and he's 
a dead man in less'n no time. 

" Why, there was an Irishman made a 
bet with an American in Boston, that 
if he made a ring of Irish earth around 
a snake, the snake couldn't get out of it. 
He bet seven hundred dollars, because 
that was all he had. Then he went 
over to Ireland, and got a little bag of 
sand from the shore near Dublin. When 



104 ^mkz& 



he got back here, he made a circle with 
it on the ground, and they put a snake 
inside the circle. The snake couldn't 
get over that ring to save himself, and 
the divil died there, and the man got his 
seven hundred dollars." 




FOLKS 



A POOR man always keeps a dog, 
and a very poor man keeps two. 

Red-headed people are usually 
quick-tempered, or, in other words, 
" spunky." 

The baby who doesn't fall down- 
stairs before it is a year old will 
turn out a fool. 

Likewise the baby must fall out 

of bed three times before it is a 

year old, or it won't know anything. 

The boy who goes through a door 

with a hoe over his shoulder will never 

grow taller. 

Insane persons were thought in days 
not very remote to be possessed of evil 
spirits. 

Idiots were thought to be peculiarly 
under the care of the Deity, and it was 
believed that those who treated them 
kindly would be blessed. 

When you see a woman stirring her 
batter from left to right, you may know 
she is a good cook. If she stirs from 
105 



106 jfolfeg 



right to left, that is a sign she is a 
poor cook. 

It will make a child proud if you let 
it look in a mirror before it is twelve 
months old. 

The person whose second toe is longer 
than his great toe is born to rule. If 
the person with such a toe is a woman, 
she says she knows by that she will rule 
her husband ; or, as one woman put it, 
" It's a sign I'm going to fight with my 
old man all my days." 

If three persons of the same first name 
come together, you may be pretty sure 
one of them is a fool. 

*' When a man goes to sit down in a 
chair, he always takes hold of its back 
and moves it. Perhaps he won't move 
it more'n an inch or two, but ninety- 
nine cases out of a hundred he will 
move it a little. When a woman goes 
to sit down, she sits down in the chair 
just where it was. If men and women 
dressed exactly alike, you could tell 
'em apart that way if you couldn't no 
other. Now, you notice that." 

A person with very light hair will 
have poor eyes. 

A person with prominent eyes is sure 
to be a o:reat talker. 




MONEY 



Early to bed and early to rise 
Makes a man healthy, wealthy, 
and wise. 

When you see a shooting star, if 
you can say, '' Money before the 
week's out," three times over be- 
fore it is lost to sight, you will 
have some money before the week 
is out. 

If you see a man going about 
with his hat brim turned up behind, 
you may know that he has money to 
let. Others say it is a sign that the 
man likes cider. 

It is a sign you are going to be rich 
if you tumble up-stairs. 

If your eyebrows grow together, you 
either are rich or are going to be. You 
may be even surer of this coming true 
if your eyebrows are bushy. You notice 
the rich men that you know, and you'll 
find that they nearly every one have 
bushy eyebrows that grow together. 
107 



108 jlRoneg 



When you see a man with one pant 
leg in his boot and the other out, you 
may know that he has money to let. 

If a man has to wear out his wedding 
clothes, he will never get rich. 

It is a sign that a person is going to 
be wealthy if he picks up all the pins 
he finds. There is logic in this, in that 
it indicates a saving disposition. 

A scratch on the hand is a sign of 
money. 

When making pies, if the person en- 
gaged in the work, after putting the 
crust on the plate, trims it all around 
without changing hands, it is a sure sign 
she will be wealthy. 

If the palm of your left hand itches, it 
is a sign that money is coming to you 
soon. Have a care about scratching it, 
for that will break the enchantment. 

But if you will — 

Rub it on three kinds of wood, 
'Twill come to good. 

Carry a dice in your pocketbook, and 
you will always have money. 

The woman who sews between day- 
light and dark will always be poor. 
Others have it that the woman who sews 
at that time will make her husband poor. 



jBftoneg 109 



The way in which one's shoes wear 
out will indicate one's habits in spend- 
ing money. 

Wear at the toe, 

Spend as you go. 

Wear at the heel, 

Spend a good deal. 

Wear at the ball, 

Spend all. 

If it is a girl or unmarried woman 
who studies her shoes for omens, she 
may add another couplet. 

Wear at the side, 
A rich man's bride. 

There was a time in the earlier half 
of the century when a great deal of in- 
terest was taken in the famous pirate, 
Captain Kidd. He was supposed to 
have buried a good deal of treasure 
along the Atlantic coast. It was well 
understood, however, that it was a dan- 
gerous thing to attempt to find this 
treasure ; for every time the captain 
buried one of his iron chests, he killed 
one of the pirate crew, and buried his 
body with the chest, that the dead man's 
ghost might haunt and guard the spot. 

If you can find the end of a rainbow, 



110 iTOoneg 



you will be rewarded by also finding a 
pot of gold at the spot where the rain- 
bow touches the earth. 

Don't give to the rich. You will surely 
come to want if you do. 

If you fall up-stairs, that is a sign your 
credit is rising. 

When you see a white horse, put your 
little finger against your chin just under 
your lips, and spit over it. The person 
who does this will find some money soon. 

A boy out for a walk will sometimes 
count all the bows he gets from his 
friends, and make a cross for each one 
on a piece of paper that he carries for 
the purpose. Later he buries the paper. 
This is supposed to insure his finding as 
many dollars as he received bows. 





DEATH 



Sneeze twice when you first get up, 
and you will hear of a death before 
night. 

If a dog howls under the window, it 
foreshadows death in the household. 

*^ There was a dog went and howled 
under the window of a house up near 
where I lived. He howled and howled ; 
and they drove him off, but no sooner 
done it than he was right back again. 
And in two or three days an old lady 
that lived there died." 

Make your own wedding-dress, and 
you will not live to wear it out. 

When the rain falls in an open grave, 
it is a sign there will be another death 
in the same family before the year is 
out. 

Many people are troubled by this say- 
ing when the funeral of a friend occurs 
on a rainy day. 

Ill 



112 ffleatf) 



To cut the baby's finger-nails before 
it is a year old will bring it to an early 
grave. Others say that to cut the baby's 
finger-nails before its first birthday will 
make a thief of it. 

If a whippoorwill sings near the house, 
it is a sign of death. Some say this is 
simply a sign of trouble. 

A child must not be allowed to look 
m a mirror before it is a year old, for 
that means death to it. 

In ^' ye olden time " great care was 
taken of the looking-glass when the 
family moved, because if it was broken 
that meant death. Even if the looking- 
glass was broken in the house and at 
any time, it was a bad sign. If a pic- 
ture fell from the wall, that was a very 
bad omen. There are still those who 
are ^' scairt to death " by such acci- 
dents. 

The sound made by the wood-tick bor- 
ing in the walls of the old houses was 
thought to be a forewarning of death. 
It was known as the "death-watch." 

When a loaf of bread in baking splits 
clear across . the top, it means death. 

A green Christmas makes a full 
churchyard. The foundation for this 
saying is the fact that open winters 



ISeatfj 113 



with their constant freezings and thaw- 
ings are very unhealthy. 

If you go through 

a wood or under 

a tree in the 

evening, 

and an owl 

hoots right 

above your 

head, it means some 

relative or friend of 

yours is going to 

die within a year. 

Thirteen is an un- 
lucky number. If 
that number sit down 
to eat together, one 
of them will die be- 
fore the year is out. 
If a bird flies in- 
to the house, there 
will soon be a death 
in the family o r 
among near rela- 
tives. 
If a corpse lies over Sunday, there 
will be another death in town before the 
end of the week. '^ Never knew that to 
fail." 

If a dog howls in the yard, the first 





WARTS 



Have you warts ? Rub them all with 
a bean, put the bean in an envelope, 
and bury it. When the bean sprouts, 
the warts will be gone. 

To cure a wart, pick it, and let a drop 
of blood from it fall on a penny ; throw 
the penny away, and the person who 
picks it up will have the wart. 

If you have conscientious scruples 
about making other people carry your 
warts, you can relieve yourself as fol- 
lows : Break off a milkweed, rub the 
milk on the wart, and bury the milk- 
weed. When it decays, the wart will 
disappear. Others say that the juice of 
the milkweed will make you have warts. 
116 



117 



To cure a wart, rub it with a kernel 
of corn. Then throw the corn out in 
the dooryard, and if a chicken picks it 
up and eats it the wart will disappear. 

Another way is to steal a piece of 
pork to rub the wart with. To, do this 
so that its use will be effective, you must 
visit a neighbor's cellar, and abstract the 
meat from his pork-barrel without his 
being aware of it. 

To make your warts go off, rub them 
with sassafras. 

To cure a wart, rub it with a corn, 
bore a hole in a tree, put the corn in the 
hole, and then plug it in. Your wart 
will make haste to leave you when you 
have done this. 

Put vinegar on a cent, and let it cor- 
rode. Then put the vinegar on your 
wart, and the wart will leave. 

Does that wart still trouble you? 
Find a snail, rub the wart with it, and 
throw the snail away. When the snail 
dries up and withers into nothing, the 
wart will have gone too. 

There are many ways recommended 
for getting rid of warts, but very few 
ways are suggested by which one can 
acquire them. One sure method to get 
warts is to wash your hands in water 
that eggs have been boiled in. 



118 smarts 



If you have a wart you wish to rid 
yourself of, wait until you see some one 
riding on a white horse. Then put your 
finger on the wart, look at the rider and 
say, '' I wish you had my wart — I wish 
you had my wart/' Then he will have 
it, and you won't. 

You can cure your wart if you will 
steal a dishcloth, rub the wart with it, 
and then bury the dishcloth. 

To get rid of a wart, steal a bean, 
split it, rub the halves on the wart, and 
throw them over your shoulder. At the 
same time say, '' Go, wart," and the 
wart will leave you. 

Another way is to do the halves of 
the bean up, after you have rubbed the 
wart with them, in a pretty package, and 
put it in a likely place for some one to 
pick up. The person who unties the 
package will have the wart, which at 
the same time will leave you. 

Still another way that is equally good 
is to sell your warts. A conversation like 
the following can be held with a friend : 

Friend: Do you want to sell your 
warts ? 

Self: Yes. 

Friend : Well, I'll buy them. 

Self : How much will you give 1 



smarts 119 



Friend : Five cents. 

Self: All right ; you can have 'em. 

No more need be said, and no money 
need be paid. The warts know they are 
fixed when they hear such a conversa- 
tion, and they make haste to leave. 

Handle a toad, and you will have warts. 

To cure a wart, rub a piece of raw 
meat on it, and throw the meat into the 
well, drain, or other place where it will 
decay quickly. Tell no one ; and when 
the meat has decayed, the wart will have 
disappeared. 

A wart can be charmed away in like 
manner by the use of a bean instead of 
the meat. " I know that's so, because 
I've tried it myself. The wart went off. 
I don't care whether any one believes it 
or not — it's so ! " 

Some claim it is best, after rubbing 
your warts with the bean, to write a 
polite note to the warts, requesting them 
to go to somebody else, whose name you 
give. Wrap the bean in the note, and 
throw the whole into the well. The 
warts will presently leave you, and ap- 
pear on that other person. 

A certain young man was afflicted 
with warts. Indeed, none of his ac- 
quaintance was encumbered to any like 



120 raarts 



degree. One day he told the tale of his 
warts to a friend who had been a Shaker. 
This friend had, when in the Shaker 
community, formed an attachment for 
a young Shakeress, who had a like 
fondness for him. Anything beyond a 
brotherly and sisterly affection was not 
countenanced among the Shakers, and 
the two ran away. Now, this young 
man whose life had been thus romantic 
told David, his warty friend, that he 
would cure his warts. 

Said he, " How many warts have you ? 
Count them up, and be sure you don't 
miss any." 

David made a careful enumeration, 
and found fourteen. 

"Very well," said the ex-Shaker; 
" now you go out and find fourteen 
pebbles, and bring them in." 

David brought the pebbles. 

" Put them in a row," commanded his 
adviser. " Now take the first, and rub it 
on one of your warts. Remember which 
one you rub it on. Now you can throw 
the pebble out of the door, and try the 
next one." 

In this manner he had David rub each 
wart with one of the pebbles till the last 
one had been attended to. 



TOartg 121 



*^ Now,'* the ex-Shaker concluded, " all 
you've got to do is not to think of your 
warts for two weeks, and at the end 
of that time they will all be gone ; '' and 
he went his way. 

David determined to follow the ad- 
vice given him ; but the harder he tried 
not to think of his warts, the more they 
were on his mind. At the end of two 
weeks, he had still his full quota, and he 
felt sure the cure was all a hoax. He 
thought no more of the matter for a 
fortnight or over. Then he looked for 
his warts, and lo ! they were all gone ! 

'^ Did you ever hear of getting rid of 
warts by swapping 'em off onto some 
one ? That's about as good a way as 
there is. I had a boy workin' for me 
that had over thirty of 'em, and he sold 
'em all for a little piece of a pencil not 
half an inch long. Of course nobody 
don't want your warts ; but you keep 
stumpin' 'em for a trade, till finally they 
make you an offer. It don't matter what 
it is, even if it ain't more'n a little bit 
of a chip — you take the offer, and the 
warts '11 leave you and come on that 
other fellow. I've known ever so many 
doin' that" 

You can get rid of your warts in this 



122 OTart3 



way. Count them, and tie as many 
knots in a string as there are warts, and 
bury the string. Dig the string up once 
a week until the time comes when it has 
so decayed you cannot find it any more. 
Then you may be sure your warts will 
have disappeared. 

If you prefer, you can use a stick in- 
stead of a string. Cut a notch in it for 
each wart, bury it, and as the stick de- 
cays, and the notches disappear^ your 
warts will do likewise. 

It is said there used to live a woman 
in Savoy, Mass., who could "talk a per- 
son's warts away." 




LOVE AND SENTIMENT 



When you go to a wedding, carry away 
with you a piece of the wedding-cake. 
Sleep with it under your pillow that 
night, and the person you dream of 
will be the one you are to marry. 

A ring is sometimes put in the wed- 
ding-cake. The person who gets the 
ring will marry within a year. 

The person who wishes to know whom 
he is to marry may settle the question 
in the following manner : Roll up your 
stockings when you go to bed at night, 
name them, put them under your pillow, 
and get into bed over the footboard, 
backwards. If you have a bedfellow, 
don't speak a word to him after this, 
and the one of the two girls the stock- 
ings were named after that you dream 
about will be the one you are to marry. 

Keep track of the white horses you 
see, and count them up to ninety-nine, 
and the next person of the opposite sex 
you shake hands with will be the one 
you are to marry. 

123 



124 globe anti ^Entiment 

' ^ Why ! a girl is sure to marry the 
first man she shakes hands with after 
counting ninety-nine white horses, even 
if he is eighty years old." 

The modern girl, particularly if she 
lives in the city, has it that after count- 
ing the requisite number of white horses, 
she is to note the first person v/ho tips 
his hat to her. He is her fate. 

If three of the same first name sit at 
table together, one of them will marry 
within a year. 

As long as you keep a piece of wed- 
ding-cake in the house, you will have 
good luck. 

Crock mark, 
Sign of a spark. 
Nearer the thumb, 
Sooner he'll come. 

On Halloween hang up a cabbage- 
stump over the door. The first person 
of the opposite sex that comes in is the 
one you will marry. 

Children sometimes try this process 
to determine whom they like best. Sup- 
pose it is a boy who is to make the 
trial. He gets a companion to name two 
apple-seeds. Then he takes the apple- 
seeds, wets them, puts one on the upper 



jLobg anti &enttnt£nt 125 

lid of each eye, and proceeds to wink as 
fast as he can. When one falls off, the 
companion tells him what girls he named 
the seeds for, and which was which. 
The seed which stayed on longest indi- 
cates the girl he loves best. 

LUCKY DAYS FOR MARRIAGE 

Monday for health, 

Tuesday for wealth, 

Wednesday the best day of all, 

Thursday for losses, 

Friday for crosses. 

And Saturday no day at all. 

If the day on which you marry is 
stormy, it is a sign you are to have a 
stormy married life. If it is pleasant, 
the married life will be pleasant. 

On the first night that you sleep in a 
strange bed, name each of its four posts. 
If you dream about one of the four per- 
sons you named the posts after that 
person will be the one you will marry. 

Unhappily, the person who tries this 
frequently fails to dream of any one of 
the four, and, indeed, may not dream 
at all. 

If you sit on a table, it is a sign you 
will not be married for one year. 



126 3Lobg ant» Sentiment 

Others say that this a sign that you 
want to get married. 

If you braid your hair and accidentally 
leave out a little strand, it is a sign you 
will be married within a year. 

A lowery day, 
A lowery bride. 

This is said with reference to the wed- 
ding-day. 

Never get married until you are able 
to cut the nails neatly on both hands. 

A right-handed person has to acquire 
skill by practice to enable him to hold 
the knife in his left hand, and cut the 
nails on his right nicely. Apparently 
the logic of the saying is that a person 
will, before acquiring this accomplish- 
ment, lack the maturity or capability 
which would fit him for such a respon- 
sibility. Hence the saying is esteemed 
very sensible. 

If from three lamps set in a row some 
person unthinkingly takes one, that is 
a sign that person will marry within a 
year. 

When, of an evening, three persons, 
one after another, come into a room and 
set a lamp down, it can be accepted as 



globe an b ^mtimgnt 127 

settled that the third person will marry 
within the year. 

When a person's nose bleeds, it is a 
sign that the person is lovesick. 

If by chance you tread on some one's 
toes, it is a sign that you love that per- 
son. 

If you are married in a snowstorm, 
it is a sign that you will be rich. 

Girls sometimes determine whom they 
are to marry in this way. On each of 
twelve slips of paper the girl writes the 
name of some boy. These she puts in 
an envelope, and sleeps with them under 
her pillow. Each morning she draws 
one of the slips at random, and throws 
it away. The last one left names the 
one she is to marry. 

When a girl trims pie-crust, and the 
trimming falls over her hand, it is a sign 
she is going to marry young. 

If, when a young woman tries on a 
dress in the process of making, it is 
accidentally pinned to the clothing be- 
neath, that is a sign she will marry 
soon. 

The person who tips a chair over 
backwards will not marry that year. 

May is an unlucky month to marry in. 

When three of the same Christian 



128 jLobe ant» &zntimmt 

name meet under the same roof, one of 
them will marry within the year. 

Happy the bride the sun shines on. 

The girl who puts on a bridal veil and 
orange blossoms on any occasion but 
for her own wedding will never marry. 

The girl who mops crossways of the 
boards will marry a drunken husband. 

The girl who wets the front of her 
dress on washing-day will also marry a 
drunkard. 

The girl who in baking scrapes the 
dough-dish clean will marry a poor man. 
In such a case the wife's thriftiness will 
tend to keep her husband from remain- 
ing poor. 

Let a boy light a match, and burn it 
till a charred end drops. See which 
way the big end of this points, and 
that will show where his ''best girl" 
lives. 

Light another match, and when one 
end is charred take hold of that end, and 
see if you can hold it without breaking 
till the flame eats clear through to the 
other end. If you can, it proves that 
your girl loves you. But if the match 
breaks in burning, your girl does not 
care for you. 

If a girl can comb and do up her hair 



gLabg anti Sentiment 129 

neatly without looking in the glass, it is 
a sign she won't be an old maid. 

Wear a bit of yarrow in your button- 
hole, if you are anxious to know whom 
you are to marry. The first person of 
the opposite sex you meet afterward is 
your fate. 

A girl tickles another on the knee 
and says, — 

Tickle, tickle on the knee, 

Laugh or smile, an old maid you'll be. 

If a laugh or smile results, then both 
know the tickled one will be an old 
maid always. 

When this is tried on a boy, you have 
to insert the word bachelor in the place 
of maid in the rhyme. 

A variation of this theme is the fol- 
lowing : — ■ 

If you're an honest boy (or girl), 
As I take you to be, 
You'll neither laugh nor smile 
While I tickle your knee. 

If a girl has thirteen after-dinner cof- 
fee cups given to her within a twelve 
month, she will be engaged within the 
year following. To bring about this 



130 jLobg anti ^enttment 

result the one who gave the first one 
must also present the thirteenth. 

Change the name and not the letter, 
Change for the worse and not the better. 

That is, the girl who marries a man 
whose last name begins with the same 
letter as her last name will be worse oif 
than she was before. 

When a girl out walking stubs the toe 
of her right foot, she knows her beau 
has gone along the same street not long 
before. If she hurries, she can usually 
catch up with him. 

The boy who dreams of the same girl 
three nights in succession may know 
that she is the one he is to marry. 

An unhappy life will result if the 
bride is married in black silk. 

The girl who makes a good-looking 
bed will have a good-looking husband. 

If a girl pulls a cabbage, and only a 
little earth clings to its roots, she is to 
marry a poor man. If a heavy clod of 
earth comes up with the cabbage-roots, 
she will marry a rich man. 

Put some apple-seeds on the stove. 
Get a friend to name them. The one 
that pops first reveals the person you 
love best. 



jLobe ant} Sentiment 131 



WEDDING SIGNS 

Married in white, you have chosen all 

right. 
Married in gray, you will go far away. 
Married in black, you will wish yourself 

back. 
Married in red, you will wish yourself 

dead. 
Married in green, ashamed to be seen. 
Married in blue, he will always be true. 
Married in pearl, you will live in a whirl. 
Married in yellow, ashamed of your 

fellow. 
Married in brown, you will live out of 

town. 
Married in pink, your fortune will sink. 

With a straw or something of the sort 
tickle a girl's face or hands. The first 
thing she says after the tickling will be 
the first thing she will say after she is 
married. 

The young woman who is fond of cats 
will be an old maid. 

After a wedding ceremony, it is the 
custom for the bride when she leaves 
the room, or when she is driving away in 
the carriage, to throw back her bouquet 
of roses into the midst of the company. 



132 3Lobe anti Sentiment 

The one who gets the bouquet will 
marry within a year. 

If a girl likes cats better than dogs, 
that is a sign she will never marry. 

A girl who finds a crooked pin should 
hasten to throw it away. If she saves 
it, she will be an old maid. 

If a young man at the supper-table 
or at a party takes the last biscuit on a 
plate, he will be an old bachelor. The 
young woman who does this is likewise 
fated to live single. 

Be careful to sweeten your coffee or 
tea before you put in the milk. The 
person who puts in milk first will be 
crossed in love. 

( 





COMPANY 



If you drop the scissors, and they 
stick up in the floor, it is a sign 
you are going to have company. 

Drop a fork, and if it sticks up 
in the floor or ground, it is a sign 
you will have a lady visitor from 
the direction in which it points. If 
a knife is dropped and sticks up, a 
man visitor is coming from the 
direction in which it points. 
'^ There's no end to these little signs. 
There's signs for everything.'' 

When a bumblebee flies in at an open 
window, look for company soon. 

If a visitor leaves any article behind 
when he goes, it is a sign that he is 
coming again. Few sayings come true 
as often as this. The sceptical, how- 
ever, affirm that natural causes are suf- 
ficient to account for the fact. 

If the cat in washing its ear rubs its 
paw way over it, that is a sign of com- 
pany. 

If you knock over the pepper-box, 
133 



134 ffiatnpang 



it is a sign company is coming. The 
direction it falls in shows the direction 
the company is coming from. 

If you get two pieces of butter on 
your plate, that is a sign of company. 

An itching eyebrow is a sign of com- 
pany. If the right one itches, the vis- 
itor will be a gentleman ; if the left one 
itches, the visitor will be a lady. 

When the palm of the right hand 
itches, it is a sign of company. 

At your home, when you go in at one 
door and out at another, you may know 
you are going to have company before 
the day is out. 

You may also know that company is 
coming when you find the backs of two 
chairs together. 

If you drop a dish-rag, it is well to 
expect company that day. 

If, in sweeping, a bit of charcoal 
brushed by the broom makes a straight 
black mark on the floor, it is a sign of 
company. 

In the days of the big wood fires in 
open fireplaces, it was a very common 
occurrence for a spark to snap out into 
the room, and when its fire faded to leave 
behind a bit of charcoal. This saying 
had more pertinence then than now. 



Cotnpang 135 



Sneeze between twelve and one, 

Sure sign somebody'll come. 

Sneeze between one and two, 

Come to see you. 

Sneeze between two and three. 

Come to see me. 

Sneeze between three and four, 

Somebody's at the door. 

If you have company on Monday, it is 
a sign you will have company each day 
through the week. 

If the rooster comes up on the step 
and crows, it is a sign that company is 
coming. 

To go up one flight of stairs, and come 
down another, is a sign that company is 
coming. 

If you make a rhyme unwittingly in 
your talk, it is a sign company is coming. 

When a woman forgets to wash the 
spider, it is a sign that she is going to 
have company. 

If you get black on your fingers when 
making a fire, look out for company. 

School visitors are coming when a 
scholar drops his pen, and it sticks up 
in the floor. 

If you go around the chimney, it will 
bring company. 



136 ffiompang 



An extra plate at table set, 

A hungry guest you soon will get. 

Of course the plate must be set by 
accident, not purposely, or it will bring 
no guest 

You may expect company when you 
see your cat washing herself. Notice 
in what direction she faces, for that 
shows from what direction the company 
will come. 

If your company comes in at one door, 
and goes out at another, it is a sign of 
bad luck. 

Some people are sufficiently affected 
by this idea that they will be at con- 
siderable pains to keep visitors from 
going out of any door other than the 
one they came in by. 

If you drop your dishcloth, it is a sign 
that a caller is coming whom you don't 
want to see. 

If you drop the towel, somebody is 
coming that you do want to see. 




RELIGIOUS 



Thunder, by some, is thought to 
be the voice of God. To speak 
lightly of it, or jokingly, would be 
apt to provoke God's wrath, and 
the offender runs the risk of being 
punished by getting struck by light- 
ning. 

It is supposed that God some- 
times punishes people for sin as 
soon as it is committed, and with 
unmistakable suddenness. Ana- 
nias and Sapphira, struck dead for lying, 
have many modern counterparts. Sud- 
den death which comes to a bad man, 
or a man who has just been swearing 
or doing something evil, is by many 
thought to be a punishment inflicted 
by God. On the other hand, a man 
who narrowly escapes death is said to 
escape by reason of God's intervention. 
Ministers tell such stories as the fol- 
lowing : A man was chopping in the 
woods. His axe slipped, and gashed his 
foot. If the cut had been a quarter-inch 
137 



138 Beliflioug 



deeper it would have severed an artery, 
and he would very likely have lost his 
life. God in his mercy stopped the axe 
in its course. 

Here is another example : A man had 
prepared to leave this country, and go to 
Asia as a missionary. He bought his 
steamer ticket, and was in New York 
ready to sail. On the morning the boat 
was to leave he had his coffee served 
in bed. The waiter was careless, and 
spilled the hot coffee on the man, so 
that he was severely scalded. He had 
to give up his intended journey. He 
bewailed the accident at the time as a 
great misfortune ; but the ship that he 
was to have gone in was lost at sea, and 
all on board perished. The man went 
later to his chosen field, and did great 
work for the good cause. God's hand 
was in the accident that kept him from 
making that fatal voyage. 

When right is apparently worsted, or 
good men are stricken, with only loss 
and pain discernible, it is considered a 
mysterious dispensation of Providence, 
or it is argued that there is nevertheless 
some unseen good in what seems on the 
surface evil. 

When a church is struck by lightning. 



meltgfaug 139 

or is burned, that is supposed to come 
in the order of nature. But God's wrath 
is discerned by many when a theatre or 
saloon is destroyed. Some said that 
President Lincoln met his death be- 
cause he had gone to see a play at a 
theatre. 

In 1848 the first Holyoke dam built 
across the Connecticut was finished. 
After the escape of the water had been 
shut off, and the flood was piling up 
against the new structure, it is said that 
the builder exclaimed, " God Almighty 
couldn't sweep that dam away ! " The 
words were no sooner out of his mouth 
than there was a cracking of timbers, 
and the whole structure gave way, and 
crumbled from sight in the torrent of 
water that then broke loose. 

People commonly say that the days 
of miracles ceased nearly two thousand 
years ago. But in reality most people 
continue to believe that miracles still 
frequently occur. Not many think any 
person has now the power to make a 
sick man immediately well by laying 
on of hands, or in any other way. To 
tell a very sick man to " rise up and 
walk " with any expectation that he 
could do so, would be good proof that 



140 Eelfgfoug 



you were crazy. Yet it is thought that 
God in answer to prayer frequently re- 
stores to health those who would natu- 
rally die. This he rarely, if ever, does 
suddenly and at once, as in the days of 
old, but gradually, through the ordinary 
processes of nature. In 1881, when Gar- 
field was shot, a national day of prayer 
for his recovery was appointed. 

No person is so sick but that God, if 
he chooses, can restore health ; but when 
a person is dead no one now expects God 
to give life back again, or prays for it. 
Nor does any one expect if a person 
loses a limb that God will make it whole 
again. It is not believed that such mir- 
acles have ever been done since Bible 
times ; not but that God could do 
them, but he never does, and to ask 
that kind of impossibility of him is use- 
less. The less likely a thing is to come 
about in the usual workings of nature, 
the less it is expected that God will in- 
terfere and make it come about. Rain 
is frequently prayed for privately, and 
in churches on Sunday, and, in extreme 
cases, on week days in mass-meetings, of 
people that have left business and come 
together for the purpose. It is not rain 
that will come of itself that is expected. 



3S.eIigi0U0 141 



but rain that God will send because it is 
needed, and is fervently prayed for by 
many people. Something supernatural 
— a miracle — is hoped for. 

On such occasions, when the rain 
comes, it is by many thought that the 
rain was sent in response to the prayers 
without which it would have continued 
dry. There are those who think the 
people of the present are quite wicked, 
and bring much evil on themselves by 
not praying for what they need with the 
constancy and fervor and trust which 
characterized our grandparents' prayers. 

It is a quite common belief that any 
unnecessary work done on Sunday will 
bring to grief the project with which 
it was connected, and that Sunday pur- 
suit of pleasure is very apt to end in 
mishap. 

In some New England families, no 
one is allowed to read anything but 
the Bible, the Sunday-school quarterly 
and Sunday-school books, the Home 
Missionary^ and the Boston Congrega- 
tionalist. They expect persons who go 
outside these lines to come speedily to 
some bad end. 

An tgg laid on Easter Sunday will 
never spoil. It will not rot, though it 



142 Eeltgfoug 



may dry up. This is equally true of 
an egg laid on Good Friday. 

Wear three new things on Easter, and 
you will have good luck all that year. 

The Baptists in times past used to 
immerse their converts in the streams. 
The immersing was done entirely inde- 
pendent of weather and seasons. Fre- 
quently baptism occurred in midwinter, 
and a hole had to be cut through the ice 
for the rite. It was said that in these 
baptizings no one ever took cold, or was 
harmed in any other way. In our pres- 
ent days faith has weakened, and the 
rite is performed in-doors, the converts 
are clad in suits of waterproof, and the 
water is warmed. 




THE MOON 

If there is a circle around the moon, 
that is a sign it is going to storm. The 
number of stars you can see within this 
circle shows how many days distant the 
storm is. There is some sense in this, 
in that there would be no circle were the 
air not hazed with moisture, and the 
thicker the moisture, of course the fewer 
the stars that can be seen within the 
circle — or anywhere else for that mat- 
ter — and the nearer the storm. 
143 



144 Ei}Z jHoon 

Look at the moon some night and 
say, — 

" I see the moon, the moon sees me ; 
The moon sees somebody I want to 
see.'' 

Then name the person you wish to 
see, and in a day or two you will see 
that person. 

You mustn't sow onions in the new of 
the moon. They won't amount to much 
if you do. 

Plant corn in the old of the moon. 
It will ear out better. 

When you see the new moon, jingle 
the money in your pocket, and you will 
have money until the next moon comes. 

What you are doing when you first 
see the new moon, you will do much of 
while the moon lasts. 

When the moon changes, expect a 
change of weather. 

Never expect much of a storm in the 
old of the moon. 

Plant beans in the old of the moon so 
that they won't run to vines. 

Always set out the slips for your 
house-plants in the new of the moon in 
August. ^'They always do so much 
better," you will never regret it. 



gCtjg Moon 145 

Some say that no work prospers un- 
less begun in the new of the moon. 

When the new moon appears, observe 
whether you can hang a powder-horn on 
its curve or not. If you can, the month 
will be a pleasant one. If you cannot, 
the month will be wet. 

This, in the days of the fathers, was 
known as " An old Injun sign.'^ 

It was put in words like these : " If 
the Indian finds he can hang his pow- 
der-horn on the new moon, he takes it 
down, and goes off for a hunt. If he 
can't, then he stays at home.'^ The 
idea is that the moon is the place 
whence rains come — that it is a sort of 
dish which, when sufficiently level, re- 
tains the water, but when too much 
tipped up, allows it to run over the 
edge. 

Wish on the new moon, and you will 
get whatever you wish for. 

Have your hair cut in the new of the 

moon and it will come out fine and nice. 

/' When I trim Ben's whiskers and cut 

his hair in the new of the moon, it grows 

out as fast again." 

The nearer it is to noon when the 
moon changes, the nearer the next storm 
is. 



146 Ei)z iWoon 

But — 

The nearer to midnight, 
The fairer the weather. 

If, when you first catch sight of the 
new moon, you see it over your right 
shoulder, it is a sign of good luck. If 
the moon is seen over the left shoulder, 
it is a sign of bad luck. If you see it 
straight in front of you, it is a sign you 
are to have a fall. There is a jingle for 
this last calamity which says, — 

Moon in the face, 
Open disgrace. 

Kiss the first person you meet after 
you see the new moon, and you can get 
whatever you wish for. At any rate, you 
will at the very least get a present within 
a month. 

Do not kill hogs in the full of the 
moon. The pork will surely " shrink 
bilin' in the pot if you do." Neither 
will you get as much lard when you try 
the fat. 

Kill hogs only in the old of the 
moon, so that the pork will swell in 
the spider. 

A girPs hair will grow much better if 



mjz Moon UT 

she is particular to cut it off a little each 
new moon. 

Of the moon's influence on crops, 
hair-growing, and such things, John 
Burroughs says : '^ A second thought 
must convince one of the absurdity of 
these notions ; since we always have the 
moon with us, whether we see it or not, 
and its effect on the earth in causing 
the tides is just as marked one time 
as another. If the moon really grew 
in the sky, and then faded away again, 
as to the eye alone it appears to do; 
if the moon was really only the frag- 
ment of the sphere, the half-moon only 
what the eye reports it to be, etc., — -its 
influence might be much more marked 
at some times than at others. But we 
know the full orb passes over us every 
day, though not always visible. We 
know the tides are higher when the 
sun and moon pull together than when 
they are in opposition ; but that these 
circumstances have any effect on vege- 
tation there is no proof. 

'' The notion that there is a dry moon 
and a wet moon is- equally erroneous ; 
since it is always dry on some parts of 
the continent, and always wet in some 
other parts, or in some other country. 



148 Ei}Z Moon 

and the one moon serves for all. When 
New England and New York are burn- 
ing up, the Western or Southern States 
are usually being drowned out/' 

When the moon is far north, expect 
cold weather. When it is far south, 
expect warm weather. 





INSECTS 
AND 
OTHER 
CRITTERS 



Hang on to your ears when 
you sight one of these darning- 
needles flying around out-doors. If 
you don't, they will like enough sew 
up your ears so that you can't hear. 
If they don't do that, they are liable 
to make it uncomfortable for you by 
going right through your head, — in at 
one ear and out at the other. Besides, 
they might sting you. 

Many New England children are so 
afraid the darning-needles will do some 
of these dreadful things that at sight 
of them they clap their hands over their 
ears, and run in great terror. 

Some say the darning-needles will sew 
up your mouth or your nose, or they 
think the creatures will dart straight 
through your body. 

If you kill a toad, and one of your 
cows catches sight of the dead toad and 
smells of it, she will give bloody milk. 
149 



150 gttgectg anti otfjer ggritterg 

This will come true, even if it is one 
of the children of the household that 
kills the toad. 

It is a common belief among children 
that angleworms and little toads are 
rained down. Visible proof of this they 
find in the fact that these creatures are 
seen most just after rains. I suppose a 
heavy rain draws them both out, — the 
worms come up from their holes and 
crawl about, and the toads leave the 
spots where they have buried them- 
selves in the dust the night before, 
and jump about for some time after 
the shower is over. 

Some say that the worms come out 
to get a drink, and the toads come out to 
get the worms. 

In case these creatures really are 
rained down, they ought to be found 
after showers on city pavements as 
well as along country roads. 

Red lizards are also supposed to be 
rained down. 

If you meet with a lion or a mad bull, 
or anything of that kind, all you have 
to do is to look them right in the eye, 
and they won't touch you. If they do, 
that proves you did not properly catch 
the eye of the creature that charged you. 



Inggctg ant> otfjer ffirftterg 151 

If you should ever take a nap out in 
the fields, sleep with your mouth shut. 
If you don't, like enough a lizard will 
crawl in, and go down into your stomach 
and make trouble there. 

It brings bad luck to kill daddy-long- 
legs and lady-bugs. 

Don't buy a horse with one white leg. 
It is a sign of a weak horse. 

Give a dog burnt brandy, and it will 
stunt him so he will stop growing. That's 
the way these poodles and little terriers 
are made. 

When you buy a horse remember 
this : — 

One white foot try him, 
Two white feet buy him, 
Three white feet refuse him, 
Four white feet and a white nose. 
Knock him in the head, and give him to 
the crows. 

It is said that a light-colored hoof is 
softer than a black, and has to be shod 
oftener. Light-hoofed horses are there- 
fore not as good as dark. The sense of 
" Two white feet buy him,'' is explained 
by the fact that there was a time when 
a good deal of pride was taken in a 
horse with white socks or stockings on 



152 gngectg ant> otfjet ffirtttetg 

his hind legs. ^' Stockings '' were white- 
haired legs up to the knee, while in 
socks the white stopped lower down. 

If a lamb's ears lop over, it is a sign 
the lamb will die. 

It is well for children to remember 
that if they go out to play on Sunday, 
the bears will eat them up. 

If you don't do what your mother tells 
you to, the boogers will get you. 

The little fellows used to be greatly 
frightened when they heard a hound 
baying in the woods ; for they under- 
stood that a hound dog liked nothing 
better than to eat up a small boy when 
he found one handy. 

See two white horses, and then the 
one'll come that you want to go with. 

Corner a toad, and it will spit poison 
at you. 

Dogs are said to be healthy animals, 
and cats unhealthy. 

To play with and fondle a cat much 
will give a person poor health. 

The child that plays with a cat that is 
shedding its hair is liable to get the hair 
into its stomach and be killed by it. 

Many believe that cats will cause the 
death of babies by sucking their breath. 
The only reason they suggest for the 



gng£ctg anti otfjer Critterg 153 

action is that the cats are attracted by 
the baby's breath because it is sweet. 
They will tell you that cats have been 
caught in the act, and give much de- 
tailed evidence. The story ends with 
the killing of the cat, and a great com- 
motion to restore the gasping baby's 
breath. Physicians do not credit the 
breath-sucking part of the stories, and 
I will suggest one or two partial expla- 
nations of the phenomena. Firstly, there 
might have lingered about the baby's 
mouth fragments of a recent lunch that 
the cat was removing when found with 
its mouth near the baby's ; and sec- 
ondly, the baby's gasping may have 
been caused by fear of the cat, or by 
the alarming commotion on its account 
among its relatives. 

Hold your breath, and you can handle 
wasps and bees without fear of being 
stung. This recipe has often been tried 
with complete success. Some say that 
the philosophy of it is that holding the 
breath closes the pores of the skin, and 
thus makes a person impregnable to the 
wasp's sting. I fancy, however, that 
the believer insures his safety by hand- 
ling the wasps much more surely than 
the timid unbeliever would, and does 



154 Engectg atxli oi]}zx Critterg 

not give them a chance to use their 
stingers. 

If your cows eat the chestnut blos- 
soms when they fall, it will dry them up. 

Others simply say, " The cows dry up 
when the chestnuts begin to blossom," 
and affirm that the eating has nothing 
to do with the matter. 

Notice your hens' eggs. The long 
ones will hatch roosters, and those more 
nearly round will be pullets. 

When you have a tooth pulled, don't 
leave it lying about. Burn it up. If 
the cat gets hold of it, the next tooth 
that comes will be a cat's tooth. 

A swarm of bees in May 
Is worth a load of hay. 

A swarm of bees in June 
Is worth a silver spoon. 

A swarm of bees in July 
Isn't worth a fly. 

If the rooster crows in the middle of 
the night, you may expect soon to hear 
bad news. It is understood that the 
direction the rooster's head is pointed 
indicates whence the bad news will 
come ; and there have been persons 
who, hearing the rooster's midnight call, 



Engectg antr otfjer Critters 155 

would get up and visit the henroost to 
find out in which quarter trouble was 
brewing for them. 

Set a hen on Sunday night, and all the 
eggs will hatch, If thirteen eggs are 
set, there will hatch from them twelve 
pullets and one rooster. 

" Eat hog, and you become a hog,'' 
said one old man to me. " The only 
feller in the world that'd gain anything 
by it is the shoemaker, because, when he 
got turned into a hog, he could reach 
around to his back, and pull out a bristle 
when he wanted one." 

If the breast-bone of the fowl you 
have boiled is soft, it was young. If it 
is hard, it was old. 

There is a saying that on the night 
before Christmas when the clock strikes 
twelve the cows kneel in their stalls. 
Some young girls in Hadley, years ago, 
sat up to discover whether this was true 
or not. At midnight they went out to 
the barn, and sure enough when the 
hour struck the cows knelt. At any 
rate, that was what the girls said. 

A still older story told in the town 
with the same theme is that at midnight 
when the Christmas Day begins, all the 
cattle in the yards and fields might be 



156 Engects ant otfjer Ctttttts 

seen keeeling with their heads turned to 
the east in adoration. Two girls of the 
olden time, who were eager to see for 
themselves whether this was true or not, 
sat up on Christmas Eve until the spell- 
bound hour, and then visited the farm 
cattleyard. But the cattle made no sign 
that they were at all affected. 

What you are doing when you hear 
the first frog in the spring, you will be 
doing much of during the year. 

If you catch a fish you don't care to 
keep, don't throw it back into the water 
until you have finished fishing. If you 
throw it in before, it will tell all the 
other fish what you are up to, and no 
more will bite. 

If you see a white horse, take notice 
and in a few moments you will see a 
red-headed girl. Even the unbelieving, 
if they try it, are astonished at the truth 
there is in this statement. 

Likewise, if you see a red-headed girl, 
take note, and a white horse will soon 
come to sight, even if it is not in sight 
at the moment. 

If your bees swarm, and show signs of 
making away, or if a wild swarm flies on 
to your premises, you and all your folks 
had better '' run out and ring bells and 



Ingectg an b oti)zx (ErittEts "157 

blow horns for all you're worth." The 
bees, if not too contrary, will then be 
either so charmed or confused that they 
will settle down, and all you need do is 
to hive them. 

Another way to make a swarm of bees 
settle is to throw dirt or water at them. 
They cannot fly when their wings are 
wet. Even the bee that gets drabbled 
in the dew has to dry his wings before 
he proceeds on his travels. 

It is often said that when a bee stings, 
it leaves its stinger in the wound, and 
that the loss of the stinger later causes 
the bee's death. I have at first-hand a 
story that tends to disprove this idea. 
A man was whetting his scythe when a 
bee flew into his face, and stung him on 
the tip of his nose. The man dropped 
his scythe and whetstone, and grabbed 
the bee in his right hand. Before he 
could crush the bee, it had stung him 
again on his palm. It plainly did not 
leave its stinger in the man's nose, else 
how could it sting his palm ? Both 
wounds became equally swollen and 
painful. 

One old farmer commented on this 
statement with regard to the bee in this 
way, '' Oh, no ! a bee doesn't lose his 



158 Ingectg ant» otfjer ffirttterg 

stinger when he stings half the time. 
When he does, and he gets back to the 
hive, the old king bee '11 kill him, 'cause 
if he ain't got no stinger he can't help 
defend 'em any more. If a bee stings 
you, and leaves his stinger, you'd better 
get it out as quick as you can, or it will 
pain you a long time." 

The truth of the matter is that a honey 
bee does lose its stinger when it stings 
a person, and this loss causes its death. 
It is different with wasps and bumble- 
bees. They will sting a person again 
and again with no bad result to them- 
selves. The stings in a series, how- 
ever, grow less virulent from first to 
last. 

A rat won't go through a soaped hole. 

Ants won't cross a chalk mark. You 
simply have to take a piece of chalk, and 
draw a circle around the dish you wish 
to protect. 

In Hadley there was once a dog who 
used always to howl when the nine 
o'clock evening bell rang. This was 
the occasion of not a little talk and 
ominous wagging of heads among the 
townspeople, who thought it portended 
misfortune of some sort. 

If you sell a calf, have it taken out 



Imzci^ anb otfier ffiritterg 159 

of the barn backwards, and the cow will 
not mourn its loss so much. 

When a horse lies down on the ground 
to roll, notice whether it rolls over or not. 
The number of times it rolls over, indi- 
cates the number of hundred dollars it 
is worth. 

A cat knows it can go through any 
hole that it can get its whiskers through 
without touching. Therefore when a cat 
comes to a doubtful hole it just puts its 
head in, and notices whether its whiskers 
touch or not. If they do, it lets that 
hole alone. 

A girl does well to notice the color of 
the first butterfly she sees in the spring. 
That will be the color she will wear 
mostly in her clothes for the next twelve 
months. 




COUNTING 

OUT 

RHYMES 



I 

Ene, mene, moni, mi, 
Tusca, lona, bona, ski, 
Uldy, guldy, boo, 
Out go you. 

2 

Ene, mene, moni, mi, 
Barci, loni, boni, stri, 
Kay bell, broken well, 
We — wo — wack. 

3 
Ene, mene, moni, mi, 
Barca, lona, bona, stri. 
Air, wair, from, wack, 
Harico, barico, be, bi, bo, buck. 

4 
Ene, mene, mini, mo, 
Catch a nigger by the toe. 
When he hollers let him go, 
Ene, mene, mini, mo. 

S 
As I climbed up the apple-tree. 
All the apples fell on me. 
Did you ever tell a lie ? 
You did, you know you did, 
160 



gtountmg nut SS^fjgnteg 161 

Because you stole your mother's tea- 
pot lid. 

Variation of the foregoing : — 

As I climbed up the apple-tree, 

All the apples fell on me. 

Bake a pie, bake a pudden, 

Did you ever tell a lie ? 

Yes, you did, you know you did. 

You stole your mother's teapot lid. 

6 
Red, white, and blue, 
All out but you. 

7 
One, two, three, 
Mother caught a flea. 
Flea died, 
And mother cried, 
One, two, three. 

8 
Eggs, cheese, butter, bread ; 
Stick, stack, stone dead. 
Stick 'em up, stick 'em down. 
Stick 'em in the old man's crown. 

9 

Little boy driving cattle. 
Don't you hear his money rattle ? 
One, two, three, out goes he. 
Or she as the case may be. 



162 gPounting out 3^{)gmEg 

lO 

Monkey, monkey, bottle of beer, 

How many monkeys have we here ? 

One, two, three, out goes he. 

Wire, brier, limber lock. 

Six geese in a flock. 

Two flew east, 

Two flew west, 

Two flew over the cuckoo's nest. 

II 
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, 
All good children go to heaven. 

12 

My father built a little house. 
How many nails did he put in it ? 

The one pointed out as " it " may say 
any number he pleases, but the common 
answer is '' fifteen." Then those in the 
game are counted on, and the one who 
is fifteen '' is out." 

13 
A rhyme with the same idea was put 
in words like the following : — 

My father had a horseshoe, 
How many nails did he put in it ? 

The one to whom the last word comes 
shuts his eyes, and tries to guess a num- 
ber which, when the counting begins with 



gTounting out l^j^gmeg 163 

him and goes around, will end with him. 
That would count him out. The guess 
has to be made at once ; and if there are 
a number in the party, the guess is apt 
to be wrong. 

In some communities the initial ques- 
tion is as follows : — 

My father has a horse to shoe, 
How many nails do you think'U do ? 

14 

Nigger in the woodpile. 
Don't you hear him holler ? 
Bring him down to my house, 
Give him quarter of a dollar. 

IS 
Nigger on the woodpile. 
Don't you hear him squeal ? 
Bring him down to my house. 
Give him a peck of meal. 

16 
One is all, two is all, zickerzall, zan, 
Poptail, vinegar, tickle and tan, 
Harum, scarum, English mare-um. 
See, taw, buck — uldy, guldy, goo. 
Out goes y-o-u. 

17 
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. 
Count the lovely arch of heaven. 



164 gTountrng out l^l^gmeg 

Seven colors make a bow, 
Sweetest, fairest thing I know. 
See the rainbow in the heaven, 
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. 



One-ery, u-ery, ickery, Ann, 
Fillisy, fallasy, Nicholas John, 
Quevy, quavy, Irish Mary, 
Stinkelum^ stankleum, Johnny co 
buck. 

A variation of the first two lines runs 
as follows : — 

Hokey, pokey, winkey, wong, 
Chingery, chongery, Nicholas John. 

A variation of the third and fourth 
lines is this : — 

Quevy, quavy, English navy, 
Stringelum, strangelum, jolly co 
buck. 

19 

E-ry, i-ry, ickery Ann, 

Bobtail, vinegar, tickle and tan, 

Hare-um, scare-um, buckram, bare- 

um, 
Tea, tie, toe, tis. 



Counting out i^fjgmgg 165 

20 

The vingle, the vangle, 
The goose and the gander, 
Come roly me bony brandy dip. 

21 

Two, four, six, eight, 
Mary at the garden gate 
Eating cherries off a plate, 
Two, four, six, eight. 

22 

As I went up Salt Lake, 
I met a little rattlesnake. 
He e't so much of ginger cake, 
It made his little belly ache. 

23 
Onery, ary, dicory, seven, 

Halibone, cralibone, ten or eleven, 

Pe, po, must be done, 

Twiggle, twaggle, twenty-one. 

24 
Engine number nine. 
Stick your head in turpentine, 
Turpentine make it shine. 
Engine number nine. 

25 
Dickery, dickery, dare. 
The pig flew up in the air ; 
The man in brown 
Soon brought him down ; 
Dickery, dickery, dare. 



166 ffiountmg out j^jbgmgg 

26 
Impty, mimpty, tibbity, fig, 
Delia, dahlia, dominig, 
Ocher, pocher, dominocher, 
Om, pom, tuss, 
Oily, golly, goo. 
Out goes you. 

27 
Nigger, nigger, hoe potater, 
Half past alligater. 
First man killed, a nigger, boo ! 

28 
Ibbity, bibbity, sinity, salve, 
Ibbity, bibbity, mellow. 

29 

Acker, backer, soda cracker. 

Acker, backer, boo ! 

My father chews tobacker, 

Out goes you. 

30 
Monkey in the match-box. 

Don't you hear him holler ? 

Take him to the station-house, 

And make him pay a dollar. 

31 
Finally, here is a formula for counting 
out made up of the first nine letters of 
the alphabet. The one to whom the let- 
ter / comes is the one each time who 
drops out. 

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I. 




TRICKS 

AND 

CATCHES 



Boy: Now you say, "Just like 
me," every time I stop, and I'll 
tell you a story. 

Friend : All right. 

Boy : I went up one flight of stairs. 

Friend : Just like me. 

Boy : I went up two flights of stairs. 

Friend : Just like me. 

Boy : I went up three flights of stairs. 

Friend : Just like me. 

Boy : I went up four flights of stairs. 

Friend : Just like me. 

Boy : 1 went into a little room. 

Friend : Just like me. 

Boy : I looked out of a window. 

Friend : Just like me. 

Boy: And I saw a monkey. 

Friend : Just like me. 

Boy : Oh, ho, ho, ho ! Just like you / 

The friend collapses, and seeks an- 
other boy whom he can try the same on. 
The boy who know^s the catch turns the 
tables by going through everything right 
but his final sentence. That he changes 
167 



168 ExicH anti Catcf^eg 

to " Just like you / Ha, ha, ha ! You 
didn't get me that time ! '' 

There are various rough tricks that 
have their outbreaks and periods of in- 
fliction among school-boys just like mea- 
sles or whooping-cough. One of these 
is the making another fellow ^^walk 
Spanish/^ You catch him by the collar 
and the slack of his pants behind, and 
make him step along on the tips of his 
toes. The walker feels very awkward 
and helpless, and the other fellows are 
very much amused by his manner. This 
performance is also called "The Shirt- 
tail Run.'' 

" The Dutch Whirl " is considered a 
very clever thing among the boys. Two 
of them catch a third between them, each 
with a grip on his coatsleeve and " pant- 
leg,'' and turn him over and land him on 
his feet again. It makes the whirled one 
a little dizzy and disconcerted, but has 
no serious effect if his clothing holds. 

Say the following over and over as 
fast as you can : — 

1. Six gray geese in a green field 
grazing. 

2. Six, slick, slim saplings. 

3. Theophilus Thistledown, the sue- 



gErtcfeg anti €atcf)eg 169 

cessful thistle sifter, in sifting a sieve 
full of unsifted thistles, thrust three 
thousand thistles through the thick of 
his thumb. If, then, Theophilus This- 
tledown, the successful thistle sifter, in 
sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles, 
thrust three thousand thistles through 
the thick of his thumb, see that thou, in 
sifting a sieve full of unsifted thistles, 
dost not get the thistles stuck in thy 
tongue. 

4. Six, thick, thistle sticks. 

5. A cup of coffee in a copper coffee- 
pot. 

6. The cat ran up the ladder with a 
raw lump of liver in its mouth. 

This is likewise repeated in this 
form : — 

The cat ran over the roof of the 
house with a lump of raw liver in her 
mouth. 

7. Round and round the rugged rock 
the ragged rascal ran. 

A boy asks a friend to play a number 
game with him. After he has given 
the friend the necessary rudimentary 
instruction, the game proceeds in the 
following dialogue : — 



170 gTricfe^ anti gPatcfieg 

Boy : I one it. 

Frie7id : I two it. 

Boy : I three it. 

Friend : I four it. 

Boy : I five it. 

Friend : I six it. 

Boy : I seven it. 

Friend : I eight it. 

Boy : Oh, you <2/^ the old dead horse ! 
(or some other subject equally choice for 
eating purposes) . 

If the friend knows the trick, he^ at 
the end, changes the final sentence to 
" You ate it." 

ANCIENT JOKE 

First person : Did you ever notice that 
when you get up in the morning it is 
always your left foot that you dress last t 

SecoJtd person : No ; and I don't be- 
lieve it is, either. 

First pe7'son : Well, whichever foot 
you dress first, the other must be the 
left one, mustn't it .^ 

When this point has been made, it is 
proper that the company should laugh. 

A CHICKEN QUESTION 

Boy to companion : Which would you 
rather have, a rooster or a pullet t 



Exitk& un ti Catctieg 171 

If boy number two says '^ a rooster,'^ 
boy number one goes behind him, and 
^ives him a hoist with his knee. 

Is he says '' a pullet/^ number one 
pulls number two^s nose. 

Number one considers himself very 
smart in either case. 

A PRESENT 

Boy : Don't you want me to give you 
a little red box ? 

Companion : Yes. 

The boy then gives the other a box 
on the ear. 

THE ARREST 

Boy number one : You're going to be 
'rested. 

Boy number two : When ? 

Boy number one : When you go to bed 

to-night. 

A mother's call 

Boy to companion : Your mother calls 
you, Harry (or whatever the other fel- 
low's name is). - 

Harry : What for ? 

Boy : Because that's your name. 

A SERIOUS CHARGE 

Boy : You're going to be arrested. 
Friend : What for .^ 



172 gTricfeg gnti ffiatc{)e8 

Boy : For stealin' your grandpa's toe- 
nails. 

INNUENDO 

When two boys in school go for a 
drink to the waterpail at the same time, 
number one hands the glass to number 
two and says, " Age before beauty.'' 
Number two takes it, and says, " Men 
before monkeys." Number one finishes 
the dialogue and keeps up his end by 
responding, " The dirt before the broom." 

THE MONKEY AT SCHOOL 

First child: Do you want to see a 
monkey 1 

Seco7id child : Yes. 

Then number one holds up a mirror 
before number two, or goes outside 
and holds a dark shawl up against 
the window-pane for number two to 
look into. 

A FOREIGN LANGUAGE 

Hog Latin : " Igry knowgry somegry 
thinggry yougry don'tgry knowgry." 

Translation : '' I know something you 
don't know." 

A conversation carried on in this lan- 
guage between two children is as blind 
to their uninitiated mates as real Latin. 



How the speakers can make anything 
out of such outlandish grunting talk is a 
great puzzle. But children find it even 
more difficult than grown people to keep 
a secret, and this accomplishment is not 
long in becoming a common possession. 





RHYMES AND JINGLES 

When about to run a race or 
engage in a jumping-match, this 
rhyme is appropriate : — 

One to begin, 
Two to show, 
Three to make ready, 
And four to go. 

At the end of the race the one 
who came in last sometimes con- 
soles himself by calling out : — 

First's the worst, 

Second's the same, 

Last's the best of all the game. 

Question : What's your name } 
Answer : Pudden tame ; 
Ask me again 
And I'll tell you the same. 

Some of the boys give a much ruder 
answer to this question in these words : — 

John Brown, 

Ask me again and I'll knock you down. 
174 



36ll)gm£0 antj Singles 175 



Second form : — 



Question : What's your name ? 
Answer : Pudden tame. 
Question : What's your natur' ? 
Answer : Pudden tater. 
Question : What's your will ? 
Answer: Pudden swill. 

Third form : — 

Question : What's your name ? 
Answer : Pudden tame. 
Question : What's your other ? 
Answer : Bread and butter. 
Question : Where do you live ? 
Answer : In a sieve. 
Question : What's your number ? 
Answer: Cucumber. 

Crowing hens and jumping sheep 
Are the worst property a farmer can 
keep. 

Boys often say it in this way : — 

Whistling girls and crowing hens 
Always come to some bad ends. 

Another version is : — 

Whistling girls and blatting sheep 
Are the worst property a farmer can 
keep. 



176 Ej^gmeg anti gtng igg 

Still another way to say the same 
thing is : — 

Whistling girls and hens that crow 
Are always sure to get a blow. 

The girl's response to this innuendo is, 
" That is not right. It's like this : — 

Whistling girls and merino sheep 

Are the l?esf property a farmer can keep." 

When a boy gets mad at another he 
will sometimes call out derisively : — 

Paddy Whacker, chew tobacker, 
If he dies, it is no matter. 

In the following, two children stand 
and take hold of hands, and swing their 
arms from side to side in time to the 
rhythm of the verse they repeat. With 
the final words, hands still clasped, they 
turn the arms on one side over their 
heads and at the same time turn around 
themselves. The verse runs as fol- 
lows : - — 

Wash your mother's dishes. 
Hang 'em on the bushes. 
When the bushes begin to crack, 
Hang 'em on the nigger's back. 
When the nigger begins to run. 
Shoot him with a leather gun. 



3^t)gmeg gnti 3ingleg 177 

The following is a programme for 
Thanksgiving week : — 

Monday — wash, 
Tuesday — scour, 
Wednesday — bake, 
Thursday — devour. 

In a game of tag, it is the proper thing 
to shout out to the one in chase : — 

Fire on the mountain, 
Fire on the sea^ 
You can't catch me. 

A variation : — 

Fire on the mountain. 
Run, boys, run ; 
The cat's in the cream-pot, 
Run, girls, run ! 

A quick way of counting up to one 
hundred : — 

Ten, ten, double ten, forty-five, fifteen. 

William Blake, William Austin, and 
William Bond all lived in the same town. 
This fact inspired some local poet with 
the following strains, that proved quite 
popular among the young people : — 



178 Hi^gmeg anti Jingleg 

Bill Blake made the cake, 
Bill Austin made the frostin , 
And Bill Bond put it on. 

Rhyme addressed to a person who 
has red hair : — 

Redny, redny, fire on top, 

All the rednys come flipperty flop. 

When you are getting ready to jump, 
swing your arms and say this : — 

One, two, three, 
The bumble bee, 
The rooster crows, 
And away he goes. 

Lazy folks work the best 
When the sun is in the west. 

This rhyme the women folks like to 
repeat to the men folks when the latter 
find it necessary to work in the evening. 

A suitable address to a Frenchman is 
the following : — 

Frenchy baboo 

Lived in a shoe, 

Never got up till half-past two. 

A French citizen can respond to the 
American in terms like these : — 



3^f)gtne8 anti gfngleg 179 

Yankee Doodle went to town, 
Stuck a feather in his crown, 
Called him Macaroni. 

Another derisive rhyme employed 
against the French is this: — 

Pea-soup and Johnny-cake 
Make a Frenchman's belly ache. 

There was a little man. 
He had a little gun, 
He put it in his pocket. 
And away he did run. 

Variation : — 

There was a little man. 

He had a little gun, • 

His bullets were made of lead. 

And he went out to shoot the duck, 

And shot him right in the head. 

Then away he did run to old Granny 

Jones 
Because there was a fire to make. 
Saying, ^' Here is the duck I shot in the 

brook. 
And now I'll go after the drake." 

Little Dick, 

He was so quick. 

He tumbled over the timber, 



180 3^f)gme0 anti Htngleg 

He bent his bow, 
To shoot a crow, 
And shot the cat in the winder. 

If a body meet a body in a bag of beans, 
Can a body tell a body what a body 
means ? 

A MODERN MOTHER GOOSE 

The hero of this tale was probably 
very like many of the makers of the 
chance jingles that have caught the 
children's ears, and become immortal 
by much repetition. 

He is said to have lived in Enfield, 
Conn. One morning, in schooltime, he 
wrote something on a slip of paper and 
passed it round among his fellows. It 
made a good deal of ill-concealed mer- 
riment, and the teacher was fortunate 
enough to capture the offending bit of 
paper and to ferret out its author. The 
words on the paper were, — 

Three little mice ran up the stairs 

To hear Miss Blodgett say her prayers. 

The teacher realized that she was 
being made fun of, but was so impressed 
by the clever expression of the lines that 
she said, " John, I give you five minutes 



3Slf)gmgg gnti gmgkg 181 

to make another two lines. If you fail, 
I shall punish you." 

The boy scratched his head, and went 
to work. The result was as follow^s : — 

When Miss Blodgett said '^ Amen," 
The three little mice ran down again. 

One person says to another : — 

Adam and Eve and Pinchme 
Went out for a swim ; 
Adam and Eve got drowned. 
Who was saved ? 

The second person answers, " Pinch- 
me." 

Number one responds by giving num- 
ber two a pinch. 

Old rhyme : — 

Said Aaron to Moses, 

" Let's cut off our noses." 

Says Moses to Aaron, 

" It's the fashion to wear 'em." 

Indian counting up to twenty: — 

Een, teen, tether, fether, iip, 
Satra, latra, co, tethery, dick, 
Eendick, teendick, tetherdick, fether- 
dick, bump. 



182 l^Ijgmeg antJ iiingleg 

Eenbump, teenbump, tetherbump, feth- 
erbump, jicket. 

A boy ties another's stockings to- 
gether, and then hollers as loud as he 
can, — 

" Charlo beef. 
The beef was tough, 
Poor little Charley 
Couldn't get enough." 

The name in the third line is changed 
to suit the case in hand. 

This stocking-tying is usually done 
by a boy's friends while he is in swim- 
ming, and the jokers try to tie such a 
knot that the owner can only untie it by 
using his teeth. The appropriate time 
to say the poetry is when the boy be- 
gins to work with his teeth on the knot. 

Here is a variation : — 

Chew, chew — the beef. 
The beef is tough. 
If you don't chew hard. 
You'll never get enough. 

If a boy has a friend named Joseph, 
he can entertain him by the following 
rhyme : — 

Joe, Joe, 
Broke his toe 
Riding on a buffalo. 



iaf)gtng0 ant» 3tnfllgg 183 

If the friend's name is Frank, the fol- 
lowing will suit : — 

Frank, Frank, 

Turned the crank, 

His mother come out and gave him 
a spank, 

And knocked him over the sand- 
bank. 

If his name is Bert the following is 
appropriate : — 

Bert, Bert, tore his shirt 
Riding on a lump of dirt. 

If his name is Samuel, he will very 
likely be interested in this : — 

Sam, Sam, 

The dirty man. 

Washed his face in a frying-pan, 

Combed his hair with the back of a 

chair, 
And danced with the toothache in the 

air. 

Something like the above ditty is ap- 
propriate for a boy named John. The 
accepted way to repeat the jingle is as 
follows : — 

My son John is a nice old man. 
Washed his face in a frying-pan. 



184 3^]^gmeg anti gingleg 

Combed his hair with a wagon-wheel, 
And died with the toothache in his 
heel. 

Take the baby's foot in your hand, 
wiggle the toes one after the other, be- 
ginning with the big one, and recite : — 

This little pig says, " I go steal wheat ; " 
This little pig says, " Where'll you get 

it?'' 
This little pig says, " In father's barn ; " 
This little pig says, " I go tell ; " 
And this little pig says, " Quee, quee, 

quee ! " 

A variation of this story is the follow- 
ing : — 

This little pig goes to market. 
This little pig stays at home. 
This little pig has plenty to eat, 
This little pig has none^ 
This little pig says, " Wee, wee, wee ! " 
all the way home. 

One of close resemblance to the above 
is this : — 

This Uttle pig says, " I want some corn ; " 
This little pig says, " Where'll you get 

it?" 
This little pig says, " In grandpa's barn;" 



Sfili^gtneg anti Hingleg 185 

This little pig says, '' It'll do no harm; " 

This little pig says, " Quee, quee, quee, 

I can't get over the barn door-sill ! '' 

Another toe refrain is the following, 
which begins with the smallest of the 
five : — 

Little Pee, 

Penny Rue, 

Ludy Whistle, 

Mary Hustle, 

Great big Tom, gobble, gobble ! 

A burlesque : — 

The boy stood on the burning deck, 

Peeling potatoes by the peck. 

When all but he had fled. 

He cried aloud and said, 

" Say ! father, say ! 

Shall I throw the peels away ? " 

Second form : — 

The boy stood on the burning deck, 
Eating peanuts by the peck. 
His father called ; he could not go, 
Because he did love peanuts so. 

Third form : — 

The boy stood on the burning deck, 
Eating peanuts by the peck. 



186 3fil]^gmeg ant> gfngleg 

A girl stood by all dressed in blue, 
And said, " I guess I'll have some too." 

A verse for a small boy : — 

Fishy, fishy, in the brook. 
Papa catch him with a hook, 
Mama fry him in a pan, 
Georgy eat him fast's he can. 

The last line sometimes ends, ^4ike a 
man." 

The last two lines may also be changed 
to read : — 

Mama fry him in the spider, 
Georgy eat him like a tiger. 

The boy's name can be varied to suit 
the speaker. 

One way of counting to ten : — 

Onery, twoery, fithery, sithery, san, 
Wheelerbone, whackerbone, inery, 
ninery, tan. 

A verse said by a boy who parts from 
his companion in the evening : — 

Good-night, 
Sleep tight. 
Don't let the bedbugs bite. 

A political couplet shouted by school- 
boys : — 



aafigmgg anti 3ingleg 187 

Republican rats, take off your hats, 
And make way for the Democrats. 

A jingle to say when churning : — 

Come, butter, come, 
Peter's at the gate, 
Waiting for a patty cake. 

This used to be said as a charm to 
make the butter come quickly. 

The schoolhouse at the little Massa- 
chusetts village of Hockanum seventy- 
five years ago was far too small to 
accommodate the outpouring of the 
population on the momentous occasion 
of a "last day,'' and it was the custom 
to have the exercises in the long hall of 
" Granther '' Lyman's tavern. The piece 
which created the greatest sensation on 
one of these last days was delivered be- 
fore a crowded audience by a certain 
small boy in the following words : — 

A woodchuck lived far over the hills, a 

good way off. 
And died with the whooping-cough. 

It bears every mark of being original 
poetry, and it was repeated and laughed 
over for a long time afterwards. 

Whether this boy originated the idea 



188 Eftgmtg ant> Stngleg 

and expression or not, there are at the 
present time extended variations of the 
tale. The best of these is the follow- 
ing : — 

Over the hills and a good way off, 

A woodchuck died with the whooping- 
cough. 

The thunders rolled, the lightnings 
flashed, 

And broke grandma's teapot all to 
smash — down cellar. 

When you have the baby in your lap, 
you can amuse it by saying, — 

" Pat a cake, pat a cake, baker's man." 

" So I will, master, as fast as I can." 

" Roll it, roll it, roll it. 

Prick it, prick it, prick it. 

Toss it up in the oven and bake it." 

You at the same time take the baby's 
hands in yours, and pat them together 
to suit the two first lines, rub them 
against each other to suit the third, 
take one finger and dig it into the palm 
of the other liand to suit the fourth, and 
toss both hands up, and the baby too if 
you choose, to suit the final line. Then, 
if the baby is anything like the babies 



3^t)Bmg0 anl3 3fngleg 189 

used to be, it will crow and be very 
happy. 

Here is a variation of the same 
theme : — 

Pat a cake, pat a cake, baker's man, 
Pat it and pat it as fast as you can, 
Pat it and prick it, and mark it with B, 
And toss it in the oven for baby and me. 

This is acted out in the same way, 
and the letter B is marked with a finger 
on the child's palm. B, of course, stands 
for baby. 

Jog the baby up and down on your 
knees, and say, — 

Trot, trot to Boston, 
To buy a loaf of bread. 
Trot, trot home again, 
The old trot's dead. 

Trot the baby on your knee, and say, — 

Seesaw, Jack in the hedge. 

Which is the way to London Bridge ? 

When you have the baby in your 
arms and are rocking it to sleep, say, — 

Bye baby bunting, 
Papa's gone a-hunting ; 



190 Ef)gtneg anti Jlingles 

Mother's gone to milk the cow ; 
Sister's gone — / don't know how ; 
Brother's gone to get a skin 
To wrap the baby bunting in. 

Whether it is a nurse or one of the 
sisters of the infant that is supposed to 
say this is not quite clear. 

Catch a grasshopper, and say to it, — 

Grasshopper, grasshopper, give me some 
molasses. 

Or I'll kill you to-day, and bury you to- 
morrow. 

When you are asked to tell a story, or 
to furnish amusement of most any sort, 
you can say, — 

I'll tell you a story 
About old Mother Morey, 
And now my story's begun ; 
I'll tell you another 
About her brother. 
And now my story is done. 

Or you can put it in this form : — 

I'll tell you a story 
About Jack a Nory ; 
And he had a calf, 
And that's half ; 



Efignteg mti Jtnglcg 191 

And he threw it over the wall, 
And that's all. 

Two children sit opposite each other 
with their palms on their knees. They 
say this rhyme together, and clap each 
other's hands in time to the metre : — 

Bean porridge hot. 
Bean porridge cold, 
Bean porridge's best 
When nine days old. 

In the English version, it is pease por- 
ridge or pease pudding, but New Eng- 
landers are not acquainted with those 
dishes. 

The child's hands in the following are 
put palm down on the table. Go over 
the fingers one word to each to the end 
of the incantation. The finger that has 
the final word is turned under. Go over 
the remaining nine with the same lingo, 
and turn under the one that comes last. 
Repeat the process till all are turned 
under. 

Intra, mintra, cute-ra corn, 
Apple-seed and apple-thorn. 
Wire, brier, limber lock. 
Six geese in a flock. 



192 3^f)gmeg anti gfngleg 

Sit and sing by the spring, 
0-u-t, out ; up on yonder hill 
There sits old Father Wells ; 
He has jewels, he has rings. 
He has many pretty things. 
Whip-jack, two nails, blow the bel- 
lows out, old man. 

This is also said as follows : — 

Intra, mintra, cute-ra, corn, 
Apple-seed, and apple-thorn. 
Wire, brier, limber lock, 
Six geese in a flock. 
Seven sit by the spring, 
0-u-t, out. 

Hang mother's dishcloth out. 
Fling, flang, flash it off. 

THE WEEK 

Wash on Monday, 

Iron on Tuesday, 

Bake on Wednesday, 

Brew on Thursday, 

Churn on Friday, 

Mend on Saturday, 

Go to meeting on Sunday. 

A girl will sometimes make the follow- 
ing remarks to the new moon. I have 
never heard that the revelation was made 



3^{)gmeg anti gfngkg 193 

to her that she prayed for — at any rate, 
not by the moon. 

New moon, new moon, pray tell to me 

Who my true lover is to be. — 

The color of his hair. 

The clothes he will wear. 

And the day he'll be wedded to me. 

If before April first one boy tries to 
fool another, boy number two squelches 
the would-be fooler by saying, — 

April fool's a-coming. 
And you're the biggest fool a-run- 
ning. 

If the attempt is made after April first, 
he says, — 

April fool is past, 

And you're the biggest fool at last. 

A rhyme that does service for both 
occasions is this : — 

Up the ladder, and down the tree. 
You're a bigger fool than me. 

A JINGLE FOR THE BABY's FEET 

Shoe the old horse, shoe the old mare. 
Drive a nail here, and drive a nail there ; 
But let the little nobby colt go bare. 



194 l^})gm£j3 anti Jmgleg 

When you say, " Shoe the old horse,*' 
pat the bottom of the baby's right foot 
to imitate the driving of nails. When 
you say, " Shoe the old mare,'' pat the 
left foot. Continue this process in the 
second line, first the right foot, then 
the left. In the final line it is imagined 
that the little nobby colt kicks up its 
heels, and you must catch the baby's 
ankles, and give them a grand toss to 
suit this idea. 

Boy number one inquires of boy num- 
ber two, ''What do you do when your 
mother licks you ? " 

Boy number two replies, — 

" Ice-cream 
Made by steam. 
Sold by a donkey in a charcoal team." 

At picnics you will sometimes hear the 
children say, — 

Lemonade, 
Made in the shade, 
Stirred with a spade, 
By an old maid. 

The children at one time used to enjoy 
shouting at each other the following 
poem : — 



Ei^gmeg ant! Singles 195 



Oh, what is the use 
Of chewing tobacco, 
And spitting the juice ? 

Whether it was the rhythm and rhyme 
of the piece or its moral sentiment that 
was so pleasing to them is uncertain. 

Here is one way to amuse a child. 
Clasp your hands with the fingers turned 
inward, and repeat the following ditty, 
which you illustrate by changing the 
position of your fingers and hands : — 

Here's a meeting-house, there's the 

steeple, 
Look inside and see all the people. 
Here's the singers going up-stairs. 
And here's the minister saying his 

prayers. 

To make the steeple, elevate your 
forefingers with the tips joined. To 
suit the second line open your hands 
a little, and wiggle the ends of your 
clasped fingers. Illustrate the singers 
going up-stairs by making the fingers of 
your right hand walk up those of your 
left. Lastly, clinch your hands, put one 
fist on top of the other, and that is the 
minister. 

When a schoolboy wishes to be humor- 



196 !^{)gmeg anti gfngleg 

ous, he will sometimes call out to a com- 
panion, — 

'^ Can you read, can you write, 
Can you smoke your daddy's pipe ? ^' 

A small girl who wishes her compan- 
ions to understand that she is overcome 
by ennui will sometimes sighingly re- 
mark, — 

*' Oh, dear, bread and beer. 
If I was home I shouldn't be here ! ^' 

A FINGER POEM 

Five little rabbits went out to walk ; 
They liked to boast as well as talk. 
The first one said, ^' I hear a gun ! " 
The second one said, '' I will not run ! '' 
Two little ones said, " Let's sit in the 

shade ; " 
The big one said, " I'm not afraid! " 
Bang, bang ! went a gun. 
And the five little rabbits run. 

The child holds up one of its hands 
while it repeats these lines. The fingers 
are the five rabbits. With his other 
hand he takes hold of each finger in 
turn as he speaks of the rabbit it rep- 
resents. " The first one " is the thumb. 
" The second one " is the forefinger. 



E{)gm£8 anil Jingleg 197 

" The two little ones " are the two final 
fingers. ^' The big one " is the middle 
finger. 

A SCHOOLBOY JINGLE 

'' Fire, fire ! " 
Said Mrs. McGuire. 
" Where, where } " 
Said Mrs. Ware. 
" Down town ! " 
Said Mrs. Brown. 
" Oh, Lord save us ! " 
Said Mrs. Davis. 

ANOTHER JINGLE 

Two's a couple. 
Three's a crowd. 
Four on the sidewalk 
Is never allowed. 





NURSERY TALES 



THE OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG 

Once there was an old woman found 
a sixpence while she was sweeping, and 
she took it to the village and bought a 
little pig with it. 

She got part way home, and she came 
to a stile, and the pig wouldn't go over 
the stile. 

So she told her little dog to bite the 
pig, and he wouldn't. 

Then she went along a little way, 
and she came to a stick that was lying 
by the side of the road. And she said, 
" Stick, stick, beat dog, dog won't bite 
pig, piggy won't jump over the stile ; 
I see by the moonlight 'tis half-past 
midnight, time pig and I were home an 
hour and a half ago." 

But the stick wouldn't. 

Then she went along a little way, and 
198 



¥urgerg gTaUg 199 

she came to a fire that was burning by 
the side of the road. And she said, ^' Fire, 
fire, burn stick, stick won't beat dog, dog 
won't bite pig, piggy won't jump over the 
stile ; I see by the moonlight 'tis half- 
past midnight, time pig and I were home 
an hour and a half ago.'* 

But the fire wouldn't. 

Then she went along a little way, 
and she came to a puddle of water in 
the road. And she said, " Water, water, 
quench fire, fire won't burn stick, stick 
won't beat dog, dog won't bite pig, 
piggy won't jump over the stile ; I see 
by the moonlight 'tis half-past mid- 
night, time pig and I were home an 
hour and a half ago.'' 

But the water wouldn't. 

Then she went along a little way, 
and she saw an ox standing in a field. 
And she said, '- Ox, ox, drink water, 
water won't quench fire, fire won't burn 
stick, stick won't beat dog, dog won't 
bite pig, piggy won't jump over the 
stile ; I see by the moonlight 'tis half- 
past midnight, time pig and I were home 
an hour and a half ago." 

But the ox wouldn't. 

Then she went along a little way, 
and she came to a butcher standing in 



200 Wurgetg gPaleg 

the door of his shop. And she said, 
"Butcher, butcher, kill ox, ox won't 
drink water, water won't quench fire, 
fire won't burn stick, stick won't beat 
dog, dog won't bite pig, piggy won't 
jump over the stile ; I see by the moon- 
light 'tis half-past midnight, time pig and 
I were home an hour and a half ago/' 

But the butcher wouldn't. 

Then she went along a little way, 
and she saw a rope tied to the limb 
of a tree. And she said, " Rope, rope, 
hang butcher, butcher won't kill ox, ox 
won't drink water, water won't quench 
fire, fire won't burn stick, stick won't 
beat dog, dog won't bite pig, piggy won't 
jump over the stile ; I see by the moon- 
light 'tis half-past midnight, time pig and 
I were home an hour and a half ago.'' 

But the rope wouldn't. 

Then she went along a little way, 
and she saw a rat. And she said, "Rat, 
rat, gnaw rope, rope won't hang butcher, 
butcher won't kill ox, ox won't drink 
water, water won't quench fire, fire won't 
burn stick, stick won't beat dog, dog 
won't bite pig, piggy won't jump over 
the stile ; I see by the moonlight, 'tis 
half-past midnight, time pig and I were 
home an hour and a half ago." 



3!srurgerg gCaleg 201 

But the rat wouldn't. 

And the little old woman said to the 
rat, " I'll cut off your tail, then." 

So the rat began to gnaw the rope, 
and the rope began to hang the butch- 
er, and the butcher began to kill the 
ox, and the ox began to drink the water, 
and the water began to quench the fire, 
and the fire began to burn the stick, and 
the stick began to beat the dog, and the 
dog began to bite the pig, and the pig 
began to jump over the stile, and the 
little old woman got home that night. 

This story has a number of variations, 
and in the following paragraphs is given 
a fragment of one of them : — 

*' As I was passing over London bridge 
I found a kid. And I said, ^ Kid, kid, 
jump over the moon.' 

" Kid wouldn't jump over the moon. 
'Tis past midnight ; time kid and I were 
home an hour and a half ago. 

"Then I went along a little farther, 
and I came to a dog. And I said, ' Dog 
dog, bite kid; kid won't jump over the 
moon. 'Tis past midnight, time kid and 
I were home an hour and a half ago.' " 

It was an old farmer over ninety years 
old who was husking corn in a hillside 
field that tried to repeat this to me. I 



202 Nut0etg gCaUg 

told him I did not see what the woman 
wanted the kid to go over the moon for. 
" I don't see any sense in that/' I said. 

*'Well," was the response, ^'^ what's 
the sense of any of it ? All these things 
you're gettin' are just like that. There 
ain't no sense in any on 'em." 

I was not convinced, but I could 
think of no satisfactory answer. 

The following is probably a more cor- 
rect version of what this old farmer tried 
to repeat : — 

*^ As I went over London Bridge I lost 
a guinea and found a kid, and the kid 
wouldn't go. See, by the moonlight, 
'tis half-past midnight — time kid and 
I were home an hour and a half ago. 

*' Then I went along a little way, and I 
found a staff ; and I said, ' Pray, staff, 
lick kid ; kid won't go,' " etc. 

In still another telling, the old woman, 
instead of remarking the lateness of the 
hour by the moon, says, " Piggy won't 
jump over the stile, and I sha'n't get 
home in time to get my old man's sup- 
per to-night." 

THE FOX AND THE LITTLE RED HEN. 

Once upon a time there was a little 
red hen lived in the edge of some woods. 



Kurgerg gTaleg 203 

On the other side of the woods lived 
an old fox with his mother. 

One day the old fox said to his 
mother, " Now, mother, you have the 
pot boiling; I'm going to catch the little 
red hen, and we'll have her for dinner." 

So he slung a bag over his shoulder, 
and started for the little red hen's house. 

The little red hen was out in the yard 
picking up chips to make a fire to boil 
her teakettle with. So the old fox 
slipped into the house, and hid behind 
the door. 

Pretty soon the little red hen came in 
with her apron full of chips. She turned 
around to lock the door, and she saw the 
old fox. Then she was so frightened 
that she dropped all her chips, and flew 
up to a peg in the wall. 

The old fox laughed and said, " Ha, 
ha ! I'll soon bring you down off from 
there." 

Then he began running round and 
round after his tail. 

The little red hen kept turning around 
on the peg to watch him, and she got so 
dizzy after a little that she fell off. 

Then the old fox picked her up, and 
put her in his bag, and started home 
feeling very fine. 



204 Nuraerg gPaleg 

By and by the little red hen began to 
wonder if she could get out. She didn't 
want to be eaten for dinner that night, 
and she happened to think she had her 
scissors in her pocket. So she took 
them out, and snipped a hole in the bag 
and jumped out. 

Then she picked up some stones in 
the road, and put them in the bag in her 
place, and ran home as fast as she could 
go. 

By and by the old fox said to him- 
self, " How heavy this little red hen is. 
She's so plump and fat, won't she make 
a good dinner ! " and he smacked his 
lips to think of it. 

When he came in sight of the house 
his mother stood in the door watching 
for him ; and he called out, '^ Hi, mother, 
have you got the pot boiling ? " 

His mother said, " Yes, yes ; have 
you got the little red hen ? " 

And he answered, " Yes ; and she'll 
make a fine dinner. Now, when I say 
three, you take the cover off, and I'll 
pop her in." 

*' All right," says his mother. 

^' All ready," says the fox, " one, two, 
three." 

His mother took the cover off, and 



Nurgerg SEalgg 205 

plump went the stones into the boiling 
water, and the pot tipped over and 
scalded the old fox and his mother to 
death. 

But the little red hen lives in the 
woods by herself yet. 

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK 

One day there was a woman sweep- 
ing her floor, and she swept up a little 
bean. She didn't know nothing where 
it came from, and she swept it along 
and along, and might 'a' swept it into 
the fireplace ; but her little boy saw 
it, and he picked it up, and said, " I'm 
goin' to plant this bean, mother." 

He took it out in the garden, and dug 
a hole and planted it. After that he 
was all the time runnin' out to see if 
his bean had come up, and when it did 
come up he was all the time runnin' 
out to see how it was growin'. 

It didn't take it but a day to get as 
high as the window-sill. Next day it 
was as high as the house. Next day 
after that it was as high as the meet- 
in'-house steeple. So it kept growin' 
until it got so high the top hitched 
on to one of the horns of the moon. 

Then the little boy said he was goin' 



206 Nurgerg Ealz& 

to climb it. He climbed up till he got 
to the moon, and when he got there he 
went along till he came to an old giant's 
house up there. 

That night he crep' into the house, 
and got in where the giant was sleep- 
in'. The bed was covered with a great 
nice quilt, and Jack thought he'd have 
it. All along the edge was lots of little 
bells that went tinkle, tinkle, when he 
began to pull it. 

The giant heard him and called out, 
" Who's round my house this dark, bloody 
night ? " 

Jack didn't say nothin', and when all 
was quiet he pulled the bedquilt off a 
little farther. The bells went tinkle, 
tinkle, and the giant woke up and called 
out, '' Who's round my house this dark, 
bloody night ? '^ 

Jack kept still ; and every time the 
giant fell asleep he pulled off a little 
more of the bedquilt, till finally he had 
it all, and ran away. He got to the 
beanstalk, and called out, *' Hump it 
and bump it, and down I go.^^ 

Then he slid down, and carried the 
bedquilt in to his mother. 

After a while the little boy thought 
he'd go up again, and he brought away 



Kurggrg gTaUg 207 

something more of the giant's. He 
kept on that way goin' up every few 
days till I s'pose he got pretty much 
all that the old giant up there in the 
moon owned. 

But there was one time the old giant 
caught Jack at it, and he put after him. 
Jack was. a good runner, and he got to 
the beanstalk first; and he called out, 
'^ Hump it and bump it, and down I 
go." 

He slid down so fast that he got to 
the ground before the giant was half- 
way down. Then he took his hatchet 
and chopped off the beanstalk, and the 
giant came tumbling down and was 
killed. 

After that Jack and his mother were 
rich people. 

THE LITTLE MOUSE WITH THE LONG 
TAIL. 

The children in old times thought 
this one of the best stories that ever 
was. The oven spoken of was the brick 
opening at the side of the old kitchen 
fireplace where baking was done. When 
not in use it was a very comfortable 
place for the cat to jump up to and nap 
in. The mouse could come dov>m the 



208 Kurgerg gCaleg 

flue that connected the oven with the 
chimney, or in at some crevice. 

Once there was an old cat in the oven 
spinin' and spinin'. 

Bimeby there came along a little 
mouse, and the old cat bit its tail off. 

Then the little mouse said, " Pray, 
cat, give me my great long tail again." 

And the old cat said, " Well, go to 
the cow and get me some milk." 

So first he hopped and then he jumped, 
and quickly he came to a good old cow 
again. 

Then the mouse said, " Pray, cow, 
give me milk, I give cat milk, cat give 
me my great long tail again." 

And the old cow said, " Well, go to 
the barn and get me some hay.'^ 

So first he hopped and then he jumped, 
and quickly he came to a good old barn 
again. 

Then the mouse said, " Pray, barn, 
give me hay, cow give me milk, cat 
give me my great long tail again." 

And the barn said, " Well, go to the 
smith and get me the key.'' 

So first he hopped and then he jumped, 
and quickly he came to a good old smith 
again. 

Then the mouse said, " Pray, smith, 



Wurggrg EalzQ 209 

give me key, barn give me hay, cow give 
me milk, cat give me my great long tail 
again. ^' 

And the smith said, ^^Well, go to the 
coaler, and get me some coal." 

So first he hopped, and then he jumped, 
and quickly he came to the good old 
coaler again. 

Then the mouse said, " Pray, coaler, 
give me coal, smith give me key, barn 
give me hay, cow give me milk, cat give 
me my great long tail again." 

So the coaler gave him the coal, and 
the smith gave him the key, and the 
barn gave him hay, and the cow gave 
him milk, and the little mouse gave the 
milk to the cat, and got his great long 
tail again. 

The teller of the story made every rep- 
etition of the word " tail " long drawn 
out and emphatic. 

In a variation of this story the mouse 
is sent by the cow to the men at work in 
the meadow for the hay. The men send 
the mouse to the brook for water ; but 
finally, after various trials and tribula- 
tions, the mouse gets his great long tail 
again. 

At the beginning of the story, where 
it speaks of the cat spinning, it means 
that she was purring. 



210 Nutgerg gTales 



THE LITTLE RED HEN AND THE WHEAT 

Once there was a little red hen found 
a grain of wheat in the barnyard, and 
she said, ^^Who will plant this wheat?" 

^^I won't," says the dog. 

^^I won't," says the cat. 

^' I won't,'"' says the goose. 

" I won't," says the turkey. 

'*I will, then," says the little red hen. 

So she planted the grain of wheat. 
After a while the wheat grew up and 
was ripe. 

'' Who will reap this wheat ? " says the 
little red hen. 

" I won't," says the dog. 

" I won't," says the cat. 

*' I won't/' says the goose. 

" I won't," says the turkey. 

^^I will, then," says the little red hen. 
So she harvested the wheat. 

"Who will thrash this wheat?" says 
the little red hen. 

" I won't," says the dog. 

" I won't," says the cat. 

" I won't," says the goose. 

"• I won't," says the turkey. 

^*I will, then," says the little red hen. 
So she thrashed the wheat. 

" Who will take this wheat to mill to 



^ttrgetg STaleg 211 

have it ground ? " says the little red 
hen. 

" I won't," says the dog. 

" I won't," says the cat. 

" I won't," says the goose. 

" I won't," says the turkey. 

*' I will, then," says the little red hen. 
So she took the wheat to mill, and by 
and by she came back with the flour. 

" Who will bake this flour ? " says the 
little red hen. 

'' I won't," says the dog. 

" I won't/' says the cat. 

" I won't,'' says the goose. 

" I won't," says the turkey. 

"I will, then," says the little red hen. 
So she baked the flour, and made a loaf 
of bread. 

"Who will eat this bread?" said the 
little red hen. 

" I will," says the dog. 

" I will," says the cat. 

" I will," says the goose. 

" I will," says the turkey. 

"/will," says the little red hen, and 
she ate the loaf of bread all up. 




SPELLING 



In the old-time spellin'-school, 
that met in some places as often 
as once a week, there was one ex- 
ercise the spellers frequently went 
through in concert. When sides 
had been chosen, and the long line 
of each of the contending forces 
had ranged itself along the school- 
room wall, facing its opponent, the 
master gave out the word, — 
Cisnecristovervanprovant imtamtire- 
liremackfamewelldonesquire. All togeth- 
er the school pronounced the word, and 
spelled it as follows, in a resounding 
chorus : — 

C-i-s, cis ; n-e, ne, cisne ; c-r-i-s, cris, 
cisnecris ; t-o, to, cisnecristo ; v-e-r, ver, 
cisnecristover ; v-a-n, van, cisnecristover- 
van ; p-r-o, pro, cisnecristovervanpro ; 
v-a-n, van, cisnecristovervanprovan ; 
t-i-m, tim, cisnecristovervanprovantim ; 
t-a-m, tam, cisnecristovervanprovantim- 
tam ; t-i-r-e, tire, cisnecristovervanpro- 
vantimtamtire ; 1-i-r-e, lire, cisnecristo- 
212 



Spelling 213 



vervanprovantimtamtirelire ; m - a - c - k , 
mack, cisnecristovervanprovantimtam- 
tireliremack ; f-a-m-e, fame, cisnecristover- 
vanprovantimtamtireliremackfame ; w-e- 
double 1, well, cisnecristovervanprovan- 
timtamtireliremackfamewell ; d - o - n - e , 
done, cisnecristovervanprovantimtam- 
tireliremackf amewelldone ;s-q-u-i-r-e, 
squire, cisnecristovervanprovantimtam- 
tireliremackfamewelldonesquire ! 

In some day-schools the word was 
also spelled by the scholars in unison, 
just after they came in from recess. It 
took their attention, and had a quieting 
effect on them. 

To new scholars the spellin'-master 
sometimes put the word " Constantino- 
ple." The scholars began, *^ C-o-n, Con ; 
s-t-a-n, Stan, Constan ; t-i, ti, Constanti " 
— "No," said the teacher at this point; 
and the scholar thought he had made a 
mistake, and let the word go on to the 
next. So it went until some one noted 
the joke, and saw that the master was 
pronouncing the next syllable of the 
word. 

The word Constantinople was likewise 
capable of being put through the follow- 
ing gymnastics : — 

C-o-n, Con, with a Con ; isn't that a 



214 Spelling 



Con ? S-t-a-n, stan, with a stan ; isn't 
that a stan, and isn't that a Constan ? 
T-i, ti, with a ti ; isn't that a ti, and isn't 
that a stanti, and isn't that a Constanti ? 
N-o, no, with a no ; isn't that a no, and 
isn't that a ti-no, and isn't that a stan-ti- 
no, and isn't that a Con-stan-ti-no ? P-l-e, 
pie, with a pie ; isn't that a pie, and isn't 
that a no-ple, and isn't that a ti-no-ple, 
and isn't that a stan-ti-no-ple, and isn't 
that a Con-stan-ti-no-ple ? and isn't that 
a Constantinople ? 

" Spell elderblow tea with four let- 
ters " was a request sometimes made 
fifty years ago. 

Answer. " L, double o^ t." 

A third party might comment, " Well, 
I c'n spell it with two letters." 

First person, " Let's hear you, then.'^ 

Answer. '' I-t, it." 

Spell Habakkuk. 

If and an a, and a d and an a, and a 
k and a ^, and a // and a ^ ; Habakkuk. 

Spell woodchuck. 

Double u, double u, 
Double o, d, 
C-h-u-double u. 
Double k, e ; 
woodchuck. 



^pellfns 215 



Spell potato. 

Put one o, put two o, put three o, put 
four o, put five o, put six o, put seven o, 
put eight o. 

Spell Mississippi. 

M-i-double s, i-double s, i-double p-i. 

Spell backache. 

B-a-c — k-a — c-h-e . 

Spell huckleberry pie. 

H-u, huckle ; b-u, buckle ; c-u, cuckle ; 
y ; huckleberry pie. 

Spell Tennessee. 

One a see, two a see, three a see, four 
a see, five a see, six a see, seven a see, 
eight a see, nine a see, Tennessee. 

Spell pumpkin-pie. 

P double-unkin, p double i ; p double- 
unkin, punkin-pie. 

When a company gathered for an even- 
ing, years ago, they sometimes amused 
themselves by spelling, or learning to 
spell, the phrase, " Abominable bumble- 
bee with his tail cut off." Here is the 
way they spelled it : " A^ there's your a ; 
b-o, bo^ there's your bo and your <^-bo ; 
m-i, nil^ there's your mi^ and your <^^-mi, 
and your a-ho-xm ; n-a, nd, there's your 
na^ and your ^/-na, and your bo-m\- 
na, and ^-bo-mi-na ; b-l-e, ble (pronounced 
** bell "), there's your ble^ and your 77a' 



216 Spelling 



ble, and your ;^/-na-ble, and your bo- 
mi-na-ble, and your <^-bo-mi-na-ble." 

Thus they spelled on down to the 
final syllable, and the matter ended 
thus : " O double f, off^ there's your off^ 
and your cut off, and your tail cut off, 
and your his tail cut off, and your with 
his tail cut off, and your bee with his tail 
cut off, and your ble bee with his tail cut 
off, and your buni-\A^-\i^^ with his tail 
cut off, and your ble bum-ble-bee with 
his tail cut off, and your na-\A^ bum-ble- 
bee with his tail cut off, and your mi- 
na-ble bum-ble-bee with his tail cut off, 
and your /^^-mi-na-ble bum-ble-bee with 
his tail cut off, and there's your abomi- 
nable bumblebee with his tail cut off ! " 

This spelling was very exciting, tongue- 
tripping, and laughable, and not many 
could carry it clear through to the end. 

Spelled in the same way was the word, 
" Ho-no - ri-fi - cabili - ni-tudini - tu - tebus - 
que." 

Also the word " Incomprehensibility." 



PROBLEMS 

I. 

QuestioJi. A man wanted to cross 
a river. He had with him a fox, a 
goose, and half a bushel of corn. 
His boat was such that he could 
only take one of these across at a 
time. Now, if he left the fox and 
goose together on either shore, the 
latter would be eaten. If he left 
I the goose and corn together, the 
corn would be eaten. How did the 
man get across and not sacrifice any 
of his property 1 

Answer, He carried across the goose 
first. Then he came back and got the 
corn. He carried that over, and took 
the goose back with him. He left the 
goose, and carried across the fox. Fi- 
nally he went back and got his goose, 
and there he was. 

H. 

Question. A man with an eight-quart 
pail full of milk and empty five-and- 
three-quart pails was requested by a 
217 



218 ^roblemg 



friend to sell four quarts. How did he 
give exact measure with only the help of 
his three pails. 

Answei\ He filled the three-quart 
pail and emptied it into the five. Then 
he poured out another three-quart pail 
full and filled the five-quart pail from it. 
That left one quart in the small pail. 
Then he emptied the five-quart pail into 
the big pail and the one-quart into the 
five-quart paiL Next he filled the three- 
quart pail, and that left four quarts in 
the large pail. 

HI. 

Questio?L Three Indians and three 
white men were travelling together 
They came to a river, and found a canoe, 
but the boat would only carry two at 
a time. Now, if more Indians were left 
on a bank, while a crossing was made, 
than white men, the latter ran the risk 
of being treacherously killed. If more 
white men than Indians were left on a 
bank while the canoe was crossing, the 
savages were likely to bei^^foully dealt 
with. How did the whole party get 
across, and always have white men and 
Indians on either bank evenly matched "i 

Ansiver, An Indian and a white man 



Probfemg 219 

cross first. The Indian is left on the 
farther shore, and the white man takes 
the canoe back. He gets out, and the 
remaining two Indians cross. One of 
the Indians brings back the canoe, gets 
out, and two white men go over. One 
of them gets out, an Indian gets in, and 
the two in the canoe go to the other 
shore. The white man gets out, and the 
two Indians cross. Now all the Indians 
are over, and the single white man on 
the farther shore gets in, takes the canoe 
over, and brings back a comrade. They 
both get out, and one of the Indians 
takes the canoe over and brings over the 
last of the white men. The party can 
then go on. 

IV. 

Question. 

A goose between two geese. 
And a goose ahead of two geese. 
And a goose behind two geese.: 
How many geese were there ? 
Answer, Tnree. 

How ma y feet have forty sheep, a 
shepherd, and a dog ? 

Two. Only the shepherd has feet. 
The sheep have hoofs, and the dog 
paws. 



220 Problems 



Read the following : — 
bed. 

If you do it correctly you will say, 
"A little dark e in bed." 

A man had twenty sick sheep. One 
died. How many had he left ? 

Answer. Nineteen. 

Ask this question : — 

Which is right, six and five is thirteen, 
or six and five are thirteen ? 

Of course the answer is neither, but 
the one questioned will puzzle over the 
use of " is '' and " are." 

Another puzzler is this : — 

Forty sheep went through a gap ; 

Forty men went after that ; 

Six, seven, twice eleven. 

Three and two, how much is that t 

This makes an extended problem if 
one attempts to figure from the first 
line. 

What is it has four legs and only one 
foot? 

A bedstead. 

Mississippi went to town, 
Mississippi tore her gown ; 



Problemg 221 

All the \vomen in the town 
Couldn't mend Mississippi's ^own. 

What's that ? 

Ans-urr, A buttertly. 

The spelling of the buUertly in the 
conundrum is as it appears in the minds 
of those who do not know the answer. 
After the answer is given, the proper 
spelling seems to have been Mrs. Sippi. 




OLD SONGS 



THE TRAVELLER 

I TARRIED all night until the next 
day; 

1 thought it high time to be jog- 
ging away ; 

1 asked the landlady what was to 
pay. 

*' Come, kiss me, kind sir and go 
your way/' 

Sing bug o' the Dutch, 

Li fal de ding day, 

r in my pocket but one pennay. 

1 saw some gentlemen throwing at dice, 
I see them throw them once or twice. 
As I stood by a-lookin' on. 
They took me to be some gentlemon. 

Sing bug o' the Dutch, 

Li fal de ding day, 

r in my pocket but one pennay. 

They had a mind I should throw it 

again, 
I had the good fortune for to win. 
222 



®It» ^ouflg 223 

If they had a-won and I had lost 

I should had to pull out an empty puss. 

Sing bug o' the Dutch, 

Li fal de ding day, 

I' in my pocket but one pennay. 

The story here told is fragmentary, 
and there were undoubtedly more verses 
in the original poem. 

THE courtin' 

On Thanksgivin' Day, I've heard them 

say, 
I mounted on my dapple gray, 
And away I rode to Stanton Green, 
To court one farmer's daughter Jane. 

Rarefala, rarefala, 

Whack for la for larry for la. 

When I arrived unto the hall. 
Aloud for my true love I did call ; 
And I trust the servant led me in 
That I my courtship might begin. 

Rarefala, rarefala, 

Whack for la for larry for la. 

" My mammy sent me here to woo, 
And I can fancy none but you. 
If you'll consent and marry me now, 
I'll treat you as well as I know how." 



224 ®Iti ^Songg 

Rarefala, rarefala, 

Whack for la for larry for la. 

" 'Tis I can reap and I can mow, 
And I can plough and I can sow ; 
And away to market to sell my hay, 
And that'll bring me twopence a day." 

Rarefala, rarefala. 

Whack for la for larry for la. 

^^ Twopence a day will never do. 
For I wear silks and satins too. 
Besides a coach to take the air " — 
Oh, curse the lady, she makes me 
stare ! " 

Rarefala, rarefala. 

Whack for la for larry for la. 

" 'Tis silks and satins you shall wear. 

Besides a coach to take the air ; 

And if you won't consent to marry me 

to-day, 
I'll take my Dobbin and ride away." 

Rarefala, rarefala. 

Whack for la for larry for la. 

" Pray, young Johnny, take me now, 
For I can spin and milk your cow ; 
And away to church on the Sabbath Day, 
Johnny and 1 and the dapple gray." 



®It» ^ongg 225 

Rarefala, rarefala, 

Whack for la for larry for la. 

This song was sung at evening gather- 
ings by a single voice. The parts where 
the lady spoke were sung in a higher key 
than the rest. 

THE BALLAD OF LORD LOVELL 

As sung in New England in 1830 

Lord Lovell he stood at his castle gate, 
A-combing his milk-white steed, 
When along came Lady Nancy Bell 
To wish her fond lover good speed. 

'^ Oh, where are you going, Lord Lovell 1 '' 

she said, 
** Oh, where are you going ? " said she. 
*^ I'm a-going, my Lady Nancy Bell, 
Strange countries for to see." 

" Oh, when will you be back 1 " Lady 

Nancy she said, 
"" Oh, when will you be back ? " said she. 
*^ In a year or two, or three at the most, 
I return to your fair bodee.'' 

He hadn't been gone but a year and a 

day 
Strange countries for to see, 
When languishing thoughts came into 

his mind. 
Lady Nancy Bell he would go see. 



226 ®Iti ^ongg 

He rode and he rode his milk-white 

steed, 
Till he came to fair London town, 
And there he heard St. Varney's bell, 
And the people mourning round. 

" Is there any one dead ? '' Lord Lovell 

he said ; 
" Is there any one dead ? " said he. 
"The Lord's daughter is dead," the lady 

replied ; 
" And some call her the Lady Nancee.^' 

He ordered the grave to be opened 

forthwith. 
And the shroud to be folded down ; 
And then he kissed her clay-cold cheeks 
Till the tears came trickling down. 

Lady Nancy she died, as it might be 

to-day, 
Lord Lovell he died to-morrow ; 
And out of her grave there grew a red 

rose. 
And out of Lord Lovell's a brier. 

They grew and they grew, till they 
reached the church top. 

And so they could grow no higher • 

And there they twined in a true-lover's 
knot. 

Which true lovers always admire. 



®lti ^ongg 227 



THE HUNTERS OF KENTUCKY 

Ye've heard of New Orleans, 
Its fame for wealth and beauty ; 
There's girls of every hue, it seems. 
From snowy white to sooty. 

We made a little bank of cotton bags, 
Not that we were afraid of dying, 
But because we choose to rest 
Unless the game be flying. 

Lord Pachingham, he made his brags. 
If he in flight was lucky. 
He'd have those girls and cotton bags 
In spite of old Kentucky. 

Jackson led us down to a cypress 

swamp, 
Where the ground was low and mucky. 
There stood John Bull in marshalled 

pomp, 
Here stood old Kentucky. 

Jackson he was wide awake. 
And was not scat at trifles ; 
And well he knew 

What aim we take with our Kentucky 
rifles. 

They came so near we could see 'em 
wink ; 



228 ®It» ^0ngg 

We thought it was time to stop 'em. 
Oh, 'twould done you good I think 
To see Kentuckians drop 'em ! 

The above is a fragment of a song 
sung in the time of Jackson's political 
campaigns. 

THE SONG OF THE DARBY RAM 

As I was goin' to Darby 

On a market's day, 

I saw the biggest ram, sir, 

That was ever fed on hay. 

He had four feet to go on, 

And also for to stand ; 

And every foot he had, sir. 

Would cover an acre of land. 

The wool that grew on his belly 

Went dragging to the ground ; 

The w^ool that grew on his back, sir, 

Would weigh ten thousand pound. 

Taralal de do, 
Taralal de diddledy, 
Taralal de day. 

The butcher that butchered this ram, sir. 
Was drownded in his blood ; 
And he that held the basin 
Was carried away in the flood. 



®Iti ^0ngg 229 

The man that owned this ram, sir, 
Must needs be very rich ; 
And the man that made this song, sir. 
He died last year with the itch. 

Taralal de do, 
Taralal de diddledy, 
Taralal de day. 

THOSE YOUNG MEN 

Those young men that trot about the 
town. 

You'd think they were worth one thou- 
sand pound ; 

Look in their pockets — not a penny 
you'll find ; 

False and fickle is a young man's mind. 

These young men when they first begin 

to love, 
It's nothing but " My Honey " and " My 

Turtle-dove ; " 
But once they are married, it's no such 

a thing ; 
It's trouble, trouble, trouble, and it's 

trouble again. 

MARCHING TO QUEBEC 

The singers marched, went through 
several odd manoeuvres, and the couples. 



230 ®IH ^ongg 

as they were chosen, joined hands, 
kissed, and went to their seats. 

We're marching down to old Quebec, 

Where the drums are loudly beating ; 

We shall meet with no attack. 

For the British are retreating. 

The war's all over, 

So we'll turn back. 

Nevermore to be parted ; 

We'll open the ring, and choose a couple 
in, 

For we trust you're all true-hearted. 

Now you want a fine companion, 

Want to soothe the cares of life ; 

Now you have a mind to marry, 

Choose you one and handsome wife ; 

Now you're joined in love and friend- 
ship, 

Love and serve him while he's here ; 

Kiss, and swear that you'll prove con- 
stant 

So long as he remains your dear. 

BILLY BOY 

Oh, where have you been, Billy Boy, 

Billy Boy ? 
Oh, where have you been, charming 

Billy ? 



®It! ^angg 231 

I have been to seek a wife, 
She's the joy of my life ; 
But she's a young thing, and cannot 
leave her ma. 

Can she sweep up the house, Billy Boy, 

Billy Boy ? 
Can she sweep up the house, charming 

Billy ? 
Yes ; she can sweep up the house. 
Quick's a cat can catch a mouse ; 
But she's a young thing, and cannot 

leave her ma. 

Can she make mince-pies, Billy Boy, 

Billy Boy? 
Can she make mince-pies, charming 

Billy ? 
Yes ; she can make mince-pies 
With a very few flies ; 
But she's a young thing, and cannot 

leave her ma. 

Second Version, 

Can she make a pumpkin-pie, Billy Boy, 

Billy Boy ? 
Can she make a pumpkin-pie, charming 

Billy ? 
Yes ; she can make a pumpkin-pie. 
Quick's a cat can wink its eye ; 



232 ®Iti ^ongg 

And she's a young thing, and cannot 
leave her mither. 

Does she Ught you up to bed, Billy Boy, 

Billy Boy ? 
Does she light you up to bed, charming 

Billy ? 
Yes ; she lights me up to bed 
With a nightcap on her head ; 
And she's a young thing, and cannot 

leave her mither. 

Oh, how old is she, Billy Boy, Billy Boy ? 
Oh, how old is she, charming Billy ? 
Twice six, twice seven, 
Twice twenty and eleven ; 
Isn't she the young thing that cannot 
leave her mither ! 

Neither of these versions is like those 
given in the song collections. In old 
times, after the usual verses had been 
sung, the singers, if they were clever, 
would make up new ones. 

THE BATTLE OF THE NILE 

When an old-time party wished to 
amuse itself, it would sometimes be pro- 
posed that they all join in singing this 
battle-song. The words were these : — 



®IH ^0ngg 233 

Where were you all the while ? 
Oh, I was at the battle of the Nile, 
I was there all the while. 

Some one then requests that the com- 
pany sing the forty-ninth verse of that 
song. The words are repeated. Other 
verses are called for, but the joke is 
that every verse is the same as the 
first. 




f*rr. 







OLD STORIES 

In the early part of the century, the 
people were very fond of telling ghost 
stories of an evening about the kitchen 
fire, and some people of great general 
intelligence were very superstitious. As 

an instance, I speak of Squire H -, a 

man who was esteemed one of the pillars 
of the town. He said of his first wife 
that she saw her own apparition. One 
winter day she had been washing clothes 
in the kitchen. When she had finished 
she went to the glass, and combed her 
hair. While thus engaged she happened 
to look out of the window, and saw her- 
self walking on the snow. The Squire 
had gone to the village, but when he 
returned he found his wife in tears. 
She told him what she had seen, and 
234 



©It> gtotiEg 235 

said she knew that such an appear- 
ance meant she was not to live long. 
She died within a year. 

The Squire's second wife did not be- 
lieve in witches, and never would accept 
this story ; but the Squire explained her 
unbelief by stating that she was the 
first-born in her father's family, and that 
over such the witches had no power. 
All authorities agree that to see one's 
double is a very bad sign. Such affirm 
that Abraham Lincoln saw his double 
before he was assassinated, and that 
he told his friends he knew from that 
he would not live his term out. 

The following is an example of an 
old-time witch story. It involves no 
less a personage than a clergyman. 
This clergyman's name was Hooker. 
He was travelling on horseback when, 
one evening, night overtook him at 
Springfield, Mass., and he sought an 
inn. Other travellers were before him ; 
and the landlord informed Rev. Mr. 
Hooker that he had only a single vacant 
room left, and, unfortunately, that room 
was haunted. The clergyman said he 
did not mind that, and took the room. 

He had retired, and everything was 
still when twelve o'clock came, and with 



236 ©Iti Stories 




it the witches. In they flocked through 
keyholes and cracks, until they filled 
the room. The visitors brought 
with them many shining dishes 
of gold and silver, and pre- 
pared for a feast. 
When everything 
was ready they in- 
vited the clergyman to partake. Al- 
though he knew very well that if he 
ate with witches he would become one, 
he accepted the invitation. 

*' But/' he said, '' it is my habit to 
ask a blessing before eating ; '' and at 
rN_ once began it. 

The witches couldn't 
stand blessings, and 
fled helter-skelter, leav- 
ing feast and plate in 
possession of the 
preacher. Whether 
he ate the whole feast 
himself or not is 
not related. At 
any rate. Rev. Mr. 
Hooker secured 
the gold and silver dishes ; and the 
next morning, while continuing his jour- 
ney, a crow flapping along overhead 
shouted to him, '^ You are Hooker by 




illMS^',,^ 



®It> ^torieg 237 

name, and Hooker by nature ; and 
you've hooked it all.'' 

THE DEVIL AND THE CARD-PLAYERS 

In a Connecticut village four men 
were visiting together one evening. At 
length one of them proposed that they 
should have a game of cards. They 
were aware of the wickedness of card- 
playing, and knew very well how scan- 
dalous the proposal was. Nevertheless, 
after a little argument, they agreed to 
play for a short time. On a stand in 
the corner of the kitchen was a candle 
whose flame had eaten nearly down to 
the socket. Said one of the men, ^^ We'll 
just play till the candle burns out. There 
can't be much harm in that, I'm sure." 

" Very good," said the others ; ^' we'll 
stop when the candle burns out." 

They played one game, two games, 
three games, and still the candle burned. 
The candle burned, and game followed 
game until morning came, and the first 
rays of daylight startled the four players. 

Then they knew that Satan himself had 
been their companion through the night. 
Who but the Devil would have kept that 
candle burning for so many hours for 
such a purpose ? 



238 ©in ^totieg 



BEWITCHED CREAM 

Daniel Smith was churning. He 
looked into the churn now and then 
to see what progress he was making, 
but the butter was no nearer coming 
the last time he looked in than it was 
the first. The suspicion grew on Mr. 
Smith that there was something uncanny 
about this fact. The more he thought 
about it the more certain he became 
that there was a witch in the cream. 
To expel this evil spirit he dipped up 
a little of the cream, and threw it into 
the fire. Immediately after that the 
butter came. That same day it was 
reported that Widow Brown had burned 
herself. Then Mr. Smith knew it was 
the Widow Brown who had bewitched 
his cream. 

RAISING THE WIND 

" My father," said the narrator, 
"worked for a man in Longmeadow, 
Mass. The man he worked for was 
the doctor there. One day the doctor 
says he guessed he'd send some rye to 
mill. But the wind didn't blow none 
so't they could winnow it. In them 
times they used to have to shake it out- 



®lt> ^tari£g 239 

doors somewhere so't the wind'd blow 
the chaff away. There warn't a mite 
of wind stirrin' that mornin' ; and so the 
doctor, he and my father, sot there in 
the kitchen a-talkin,' and guessin' they'd 
have to let it go till next day. While 
they was a-doin' o' this in comes the 
doctor's wife, and says the wind was be- 
ginnin' to blow up a little. And sure 
enough ! when they come to go out the 
wind was blowin' considerable, and my 
father went right to cleanin' up the rye. 
There might not be nothin" in it, but my 
father always thought that woman was a 
witch. 'Twarn't nateral the wind should 
come up sudden that way, without no 
help. That woman she wanted the 
flour, and so she just went out and made 
the wind blow up the way it did. 

THE CAT WHICH LOST A CLAW 

There was a man by the name of 
Jones had a sawmill. He was so driven 
with work that he frequently was obliged 
to run the saw evenings. One night he 
was going down to the mill to work; and 
his wife said she didn't want him to, but 
he went just the same. He got the saw 
running, and a log rolled on, when along 
came a black cat he'd never seen before. 



240 ®Iti ^torteg 

She purred around very friendly, rubbing 
up against the man, and trotting along 
on the log he was sawing. Finally she 
got to fooling around the saw, and got a 
claw cut off. Then she ran away up 
the hill toward the man's house. When 
the man got through work, and went 
home, he found his wife had one of her 
fingers done up. He asked her what 
the matter was, and she wouldn't tell 
him. But he kept at her, and after a 
while she let him see her hand. One 
finger was cut clean off. Then the man 
knew his wife was a witch, and that she 
was that same black cat which got its 
claw sawed off at the mill. 

HOW TO KILL A WITCH 

It was a common trick in the olden 
time of such women as were witches to 
turn into cats, and go scooting along the 
top rails of fences. It was useless try- 
ing to shoot these witch cats with any 
ordinary load. Leaden bullets would 
not touch them. To kill them, the gun 
had to be loaded with a silver ball. It 
was needful for the person who went 
witch-killing to use great care about 
his ammunition ; for they said about 
the ball, that, — 



®IK ^torieg 241 

" If it isn't pure silver 
It only maims and doesn't kill her.'' 

CHEATING THE DEVIL 

A farmer who had no money wanted 
a barn. Indeed, he wanted the barn very 
badly. The man had just a shed or two 
back of his little house, and it did not 
seem to him he could get along without 
a barn much longer possibly. Now, the 
Devil knew very well how the man was 
feeling ; and one day he went to the man, 
and said he'd build him a barn. So 
they fixed up a bargain between them. 
For putting up the barn the Devil was 
to have the man's soul when he died; 
but the work must be done before the 
first rooster crew in the morning, or the 
bargain was off. All that night the man- 
heard the Devil hammering and ham- 
mering away up the hill a little ways, 
where he was building the barn. A 
while before daylight the man got up, 
and went out the back door to where he 
had a slab shed he kept his hens in. 
He stopped before the door, and made 
an imitation of crowing, and the old 
rooster answered him. That knocked 
the bargain all to pieces, and the Devil 
got well cheated that time. The man 



242 ®Iti ^tori£g 

got his barn free ; but being of the 
Devil's building I don't suppose it was 
a very good one, or lasted very long. 

THE WILBUR WITCHES 

These witches made themselves fa- 
mous about seventy-five years ago in the 
hill country of western Massachusetts. 

Their pranks were played in a secluded 
hamlet known as Simpson Hollow, and 
they particularly afflicted the Wilbur 
family there. The Wilburs were a good, 
respectable, church-going family; but, 
by some mysterious dispensation of 
Providence, they were the ones who had 
to suffer. They would find their Sun- 
day clothes snipped and gashed, for one 
thing. While this witch business was 
going on, the Wilburs made it a point to 
look over the clothes they had hung up 
in the closets and about the rooms each 
day. One morning, after Mrs. Wilbur 
had made the rounds, she is reported 
to have said, " Well, I believe there's 
nothin' this time." The words were no 
sooner out of her mouth than a skirt 
dropped down on the floor with a half- 
yard slash in it. 

Granny Bates, who was one of the 
family, one day missed her gold beads, 



®Iti gtotteg 243 

and where should they be found but at 
the top of the well-sweep. 

Again the beads were gone. They 
searched high and low ; and finally the 
beads were found in a teacup, in the 
bottom of a tub of clothes that they had 
taken down by the brook to rinse, and 
spread on the grass. 

Another strange thing was that the 
family were continually finding odd 
articles of one sort and another in the 
dye-tub by the kitchen fireplace. This 
could not be allowed to go on, and one 
of the boys was told to sit on the dye- 
tub and stay there ; but nothing came 
of it. 

These stories circulated through the 
neighborhood, and occasioned not a 
little excitement. Even the minister 
was a good deal exercised over it. He 
led in a number of prayer-meetings at 
the house ; but the Devil continued, 
nevertheless, in apparent full possession. 

Sometimes a watch was set, and this 
served to fasten suspicion on Granny 
Bates and an old cat owned in the fam- 
ily. When some one went to get meal 
to sift, they found this old cat in the bin. 
Then they noticed that the old cat had 
begun to look very strangely, and there 



244 ©in Storieg 




were those who affirmed that its features 
bore a very close resemblance to those 
of Granny 
Bates. 

At last, 
on one of 
the nights 
when a 
party was 
trying to 
drive out 
the witch- 
es, this old ijlif window, glass and 
cat was[|,'j|// all, without break- 
ing a pane. People 
who saw it said that 
this was no other 
than Granny Bates 
in the form of a 
black cat. But it 
was never settled 
\ who the witch really 
"^l was, and some had 
' suspicions of a ser- 
vant-girl who was working in the fam- 
ily. It was a good while before the 
excitement died out ; and for a long 
time after, when anything strange hap- 
pened in the community, people would 
say, " Well, that's the Wilbur witches." 



w 

seen to go W/ 

through'jjj^ 
closed'^ 




<Slt> &t0ri£g 245 

A BURN CURED 

" Once, when I was a young girl, there 
was a woman Uved in our family who 
said she could cure burns by talkin' to 
'em. I used to poke fun to her about 
it. But one day I tipped over a kittle 
of hot water, and got scalded all along 
down my arm. It hurt so it didn't seem 
as if I could stan' it, and I begged that 
woman to do something if she could. 
She warn't goin' to, because she said 
I didn't believe she could do anything, 
and laughed at her. But I told her I 
wouldn't any more, and I'd believe any- 
thing if she'd only cure me. So she 
passed her hands kind o' light back and 
forth over the burns, and mumbled some- 
thing, and the pain went away right off. 
I asked her afterwards what it was she 
said, but she wouldn't tell. She said 
she could only tell it to some man who 
warn't any of my relation." 

DEALING WITH GHOSTS 

" If a ghost was to appear to me I 
wouldn't be afraid of him," said Grand- 
mother Brown ; '^ and if some night some 
of you children see a ghost, you just tell 
me. I would know, if a ghost came to 
me, he either w^anted help, or came to 



246 ®It! Started 

warn me ; and I should just ask him 
what he wanted. Oh, there's no need 
of bein' scared of a ghost." 

If a ghost appeared to a person, the 
proper words in which to address it 
were, '' What, in the name of God, do 
you want ? " 

THE CANNIBAL FROGS 

In the early part of the century there 
lived a boy in the town of Hadley who 
was terribly lazy. His name was Ed- 
ward Good. 

One spring evening he was sent on an 
errand that took him across a swampy 
meadow. When he came to this meadow, 
the night air was so laden with strange 
pipings and croakings that Master Good 
became frightened and uneasy in his 
mind. He hesitated, and listened fear- 
fully to the uncanny noises ; and the re- 
sult was that the darkness and the weird 
voices so scared him that he turned and 
ran home. 

His folks were astonished that so slow 
a boy should get home so soon, and 
asked him if he had done the errand. 

He said, " No ; I was goin' to do it ; 
but I got down in the meadow, and 
all the frogs was hoUerin', 'Ketch Eddy, 



®Iti Storfeg 247 

ketch Eddy ! Eat him up, eat him up ! ' 
and I didn't dast to go across." 

A SEVERE PUNISHMENT 

A stranger came one day to Lonetown 
Tavern long ago, and stayed day after 
day, and week after week. He did no 
work, and seemed to have no business ; 
he did not even let his name be known. 
This was all very puzzling to the towns- 
folk, and they were entirely at sea in 
their conjectures as to why he was there. 

At length the people of the village 
sent a delegation to the man to get 
some information as to who and what 
he was. He would give them no satis- 
faction then ; but after some talk back 
and forth he consented to name a time 
when he would answer their various 
questions plainly and fully. 

On the appointed night the dele- 
gation presented itself, and was thus 
enlightened : '^ Gentlemen," said the 
stranger, " I am a criminal. I had my 
choice at the bar of justice, to be hung 
or to spend six months in Lonetown. 
I chose to come here, but I wish now 
that I had chosen to be hung." 

With that the stranger bade the com- 
pany " Good-evening," and bowed him- 
self out of the room. 



248 ©in Stories 



THE RIVAL COOKS 

In a green valley among the Berkshire 
hills in days gone by there lived two 
women in houses less than a quarter of 
a mile apart, who took great pride in their 
cooking. Each was sure she was the 
best cook of the two, and their rivalry at 
length grew so warm that they agreed to 
have a contest to see which could make 
the largest pudding. They stewed and 
brewed and baked with great labor and 
mystery. The test-day came, and a large 
company of old and young from all the 
region about gathered to see and taste 
the giant puddings. The crowd drew up 
around the festive board, and gazed and 
commented and ate. What the size of 
the puddings really was is not reported ; 
but we get a hint of their magnitude 
from the fact that after slice after slice 
had been cut away from one side of the 
smallest one, the remainder fell over and 
killed one of the children at the table. 

THE WARNING OF THE FROGS 

The events chronicled in this nar- 
rative occurred in western Massachu- 
setts, in the township of Northampton. 
Far from any present habitations, on 



®IH ^torieg 249 

a marshy meadow, under the eastern 
shadow of a rough mountain ridge, is a 
half-choked cellar-hole and a few bushy 
old apple-trees that show there once 
stood a farmhouse. If inquiry is pur- 
sued, it is ascertained that Moses Pome- 
roy, a hundred years since, owned this 
property, and lived there with a numer- 
ous family. Among other traditions of 
the place, is one having to do with a 
certain jug Moses carried to the village 
store with considerable regularity to be 
filled with rum. One dark night he re- 
turned laden with this jug, and came 
opposite the marsh, when he was startled 
by guttural voices from the pond crying 
out, " Pomeroy ! Pomeroy ! Jug o' rum ! 
jug o^ rum ! Got drunk ! got drunk ! 
Go home ! go home ! " These remarks 
so worked on the mind of Mr. Pomeroy 
that he said to himself, '' If the very frogs 
have got to mocking me, and saying 
that I am drunk, I will stop drinking.^' 
Thereupon he swung his jug in air, and 
threw it far out into the pond. 

TIM felt's ghost 

Connected with the Ireland Parish 
district of the city of Holyoke, Mass., 
is a famous ghost story, w^hich runs as 



250 ®lti ^torfeg 

follows : In the old days there lived on 
"Back Street'' a Mr. Felt. One fall 
he sowed a field of rye. The rye came 
up well, and in the spring was looking 
green and thrifty. He was therefore the 
more disturbed at the frequent visits of 
Neighbor Hummerston's geese to the 
said field. 

Mr. Felt had a quick temper, and this 
sort of thing was too much for him. He 
caught the whole flock one day, killed 
them, and then wended his way to Dea- 
con Hummerston to inform him what he 
had done, and where his geese Avere to 
be found. 

This and other acts showed his hasty 
temper and savage disposition, and 
brought him into disrepute among his 
neighbors. He often cruelly beat his 
horses and cattle, and there were times 
when he served the members of his 
family in the same way. 

He had a son, Timothy by name, a 
dull-witted fellow, who was slow of 
comprehension, and in his work made 
many mistakes. This was a frequent 
cause of anger to his father, who on 
such occasions would strike Tim to the 
earth with whatever implement he hap- 
pened to have in hand, — a hoe, a rake, 



St0ti00 251 



or a pitchfork, perchance. These at- 
tacks sometimes drove Tim from home ; 
but, after a few daysV absence, necessity 
would bring him back again. At last, 
however, he disappeared, and w^as seen 
no more ; and a little later the Felts 
moved West. 

In building the New Haven and 
Northampton canal, a great deal of 
limestone was used. On Mr. Felt's 
farm was a ledge of this rock, and the 
company soon had a quarry there. 
The overseer was a rough, ill-tempered 
fellow ; and it was not long before he 
had trouble with his workmen, and they 
all left him. That brought work to a 
standstill, and the overseer was at his 
wit's end to find some way out of his 
difficulty. 

One night, shortly after the men left, 
the overseer, on his way home from the 
corner store^ quite late, saw a dark figure 
standing on the limestone ledge, outlined 
against the sky. The overseer stood 
still, his frightened gaze riveted on the 
stranger. Presently he broke the silence 
by asking, "Who are you? and what is 
your business ? " 

The spectre replied, " My name is 
Timothy Felt, and my bones are under 



252 ®Iti Storteg 

where I now stand. I was killed by my 
father four years ago, and if you will 
blast this rock you will find my bones/' 

This story ran through all the country 
round, and created great excitement. 
Every day, for some time afterwards, 
loads of people, not only from Ireland 
Parish, but from towns quite distant, 
wended their way thither, inquiring the 
way to the "ghost place;" and when 
night came on people would make a 
long detour rather than pass the spot, 
and run the risk of meeting Tim's un- 
easy spirit. Money was raised to con- 
tinue the quarrying until Tim's skeleton 
should be brought to light, but no bones 
were found ; and after the overseer had 
gotten out what stone he wanted, the 
work lagged and was discontinued. 

Was this humbug or not ? A certain 
old lady used to say : — 

'' Where folks believe in witches, witches 
air ; 
But when they don't believe, there are 
none there.'' 

In this case there was wide belief that 
Tim was murdered, and that his ghost 
did really appear. 



©in stories 253 



THE VILLAGE ROOSTERS AND WILLIAM 
SMITH 

In one of the old New England towns 
there lived in days of yore a youth 
named William Smith. William lived 
at the lower end of the chief village 
street. Near the upper end of the same 
street lived a young woman with whose 
charms William was so smitten that his 
calls on her were not only frequent but 
protracted. 

One night when he had made one of 
these calls, he sought his home at the 
magic hour when, in such towns as had 
steeple clocks, the bells tolled twelve. 
William had not gone down the street 
far when he was startled by the crow 
of a rooster. But the remarkable thing 
was that he clearly detected beneath its 
rough notes these words, "The woman 
rules here.'' There was no doubt about 
what the rooster said, for it immedi- 
ately repeated the words, and even more 
clearly, "The woman rules here.'' 

While William walked along ponder- 
ing this strange statement, he heard the 
voice of a second rooster at the next 
house below. It said, "The man rules 
here. The man rules here." 



254 ^ ®IH ^tori0g 

It was plain- to William that he was 
being let into some of the family secrets 
of the village. All through the street the 
roosters greeted him as he passed along. 
At some of the houses it was the man 
that was chief, at some the woman. 
William certainly had food for reflec- 
tion, but it is not related that he ever 
made any use of this knowledge which 
came to him so strangely. 

In this connection I may mention that 
some say if you listen to roosters calling 
back and forth you can hear this con- 
versation. 

Rooster at first house. " The women 
rule here.'' 

Rooster at second house. ^'And so 
they do here.'' 

Rooster at third house. '^And so 
they do everywhere." 

A grown person, when a rooster crows, 
will sometimes imitate its call, and work 
a child's name into the sound. Then 
he says to the child, ^' Didn't you hear 
the rooster calling you ? " 

A FORTUNE IN A STICK 

There were once three girls who were 
anxious as to the kind of husbands they 
should have. 



®tti ^ioxm 255 

At length the eldest said, " You know, 
sisters, there is a little wood back of the 
house. Let us all walk through it, and 
each pick a stick as we go along. The 
one that picks the handsomest stick 
will get the handsomest husband." 

The others agreed, and off they all 
three went. They had not gone far 
when the youngest saw a stick that she 
thought would do well enough for her, 
and she forthwith picked it. Her sisters 
walked on and on until they came out 
of the wood on the other side, but not 
a stick did they find that was handsome 
enough to suit them. Then all three 
went home. 

Not long after the youngest married ; 
but the eldest two remained single all 
their lives. 

The consequence of the general knowl- 
edge of this story was, that the old 
people used sometimes to say to a girl 
whom they thought over particular in 
her criticism of the marriageable young • 
men, ^^You better look out, and not 
have to go through the woods to pick a 
stick.'' 

If a woman married a man who was 
held in low esteem by the community, 
it was said, " Well, she went through the 



256 ®IK ^torftg 

wood, and picked a crooked stick after 

THE THREE MAIDS WHO WENT TO SEEK 
THEIR FORTUNES 

One time there was three girls went 
off to seek their fortunes. They walked 
along until they come to a place where 
the road split, and went off in three 
different directions. The girls sot down 
there and talked things over, and then 
each one on 'em took one o' the roads. 

The youngest one she walked along 
all day, and it got to be night, and she, 
stopped at a little house she come to. 
There was an old witch woman lived 
at that house, but the girl didn't know 
nothin' about that. That night she w^as 
moanin' and moanin' because she hadn't 
made nothin' that day. 

So the next mornin' the old witch 
woman told her not to be so down- 
hearted, and she gave her an egg. She 
said to the girl that when she got so sor- 
rowful she couldn't stan' it any longer, 
to break the egg^ and it would bring her 
good fortin. 

The girl took the egg^ and travelled 
all that mornin', and there never nothin' 
happened ; and at noon she was so sor- 



rowful she broke the egg. It warn't no 
common egg, and out of it come a little 
spinnin'-wheel as pretty as could be ; 
and this little wheel would keep spinnin' 
silk all by itself, without a hand touchin' 
it. 

Along in the afternoon the girl saw a 
bunch of ladies down by a spring, and 
she went down to see what they was 
doin'. They had a handkerchief with 
blood on it ; and they was tryin' to wash 
it clean, and none of 'em could do it. 
Then the girl said she would try it ; and 
when she took it, the handkerchief came 
clean right off. 

Now, the one that could make that 
handkerchief clean was to have the 
king's son for a husband. So they took 
the girl up to the palace, and she was 
married to the king's son. But this 
prince was under an enchantment for 
seven years. In the daytime he was in 
the form of a bull, and it was only in 
the night that he was a man. For seven 
years the girl had to lead her husband 
every mornin' away to the stable. At 
sunset he would come back again a 
man. But when the seven years was up, 
then they were all right. 

Those other two girls that took the 



258 ®Iti ^torteg 

other two roads went along, I don't 
know how far ; but they never come to 
nothin', and they never got married at 
all. 

*' sometime'' 

One spring day Mr. and Mrs. Robin 
were talking over plans for nest-build- 
ing. An old apple-tree near a farm- 
house had been their home for many 
years past. 

^' Better settle down in the same old 
tree/' said Mr. Robin. "There isn't an- 
other in the neighborhood has crotches 
to equal it." 

" I know it," replied Mrs. Robin ; 
" but the man who lives in the farm- 
house says he's going to build a barn 
right here, and our tree would have to 
come down." 

"When did he say he was going to 
build it ? " asked Mr. Robin. 

"He didn't say just when," Mrs. 
Robin answered ; "he said ' sometime.^ " 

"Oh, well," remarked Mr. Robin, "we 
can have our nest here all right then ; " 
and they began to build it in a crotch of 
the old apple-tree that very day. 



®lt» ^toriEg 259 



MRS. STOWE S ORANGES 

It is said that the year after Harriet 
Beecher Stowe's " Uncle Tom's Cabin '' 
came out, all the oranges that grew in 
her Florida grove were black skinned. 
There was a good deal of joking in con- 
sequence, and the fruit was spoken of as 
" abolition oranges." 

STUMPING THE DEVIL 

There was a place where my mother 
was livin' once, where the whoopin'- 
cough took and run through the family. 
It ketched 'em all, little and big, except 
the hired man, who might have been 
eighteen or twenty years old. 

One day my mother says to him, 
*'Ain't you goin' to have the whoopin'- 
cough, John ? " 

And he says, " No ; I'll stump the 
Devil to give it to me.'^ 

The next thing they knew, John had 
the whooping-cough, and had it bad. It 
made him so cross-eyed that you might 
think he was lookin' all around the lots 
when he was lookin' straight at you. 
He never could talk straight after it, and 
he couldn't walk straight. He kind o' 
petered out every way. He was a smart. 



260 ®lti ^torfeg 

good-lookin' fellow before he had the 
whoopin'-cough, but that spoilt him. 
He said he never'd stump the Devil 
again. I know when he was an old 
man, eighty years old or so, he used to 
tell about it and say, " I think I stumped 
the Devil a little too hard that time." 

THE STEERS THAT WOULDN'T DRAW 

My mother's father was down in the 
woods one time, and he'd got his sled 
loaded up with a little jag o' logs. When 
he come to start, the steers wouldn't 
budge. 'Twa'n't much of a load, and he 
knew the steers could draw it well as 
not. Now, there was an old woman that 
lived, in the neighborhood that he'd 
always thought was kind of a witch, and 
when the steers acted that way he was 
pretty sure that old woman had be- 
witched 'em. So he said to himself that 
he'd cut a stick, and he'd make those 
steers draw that load or he'd kill 'em. 
Well, you know if you drawed blood on 
a thing that was bewitched, you drawed 
blood on the witch too ; and if you 
killed a thing that was bewitched, you 
killed the witch. 

My mother's father was just goin' to 
give those steers a weltin', when there 



®Iti ^torteg 261 

come a sort of a low laugh from down 
somewhere in the woods. It was that 
old witch woman, though she wa'n't 
really anywhere around there. As soon 
as the steers heard that ar laugh, they 
started right along. 

THE POWER OF FANCY 

It is told of a party of students at 
Harvard long ago, that they one day fell 
into a dispute as to whether a man could 
be made sick through his imagination. 
Some said he could, and others said 
he couldn't. To settle the dispute they 
agreed to try the experiment on a driver 
who was well known to all of them, and 
who made many trips each week be- 
tween Cambridge and Boston. The 
students stationed themselves along the 
road at intervals, so that they might 
meet the driver on one of these trips. 

Student number one presently sighted 
the man and said, " How do you do to- 
day ? " 

" Oh, I'm as well as usual," says the 
driver. 

"You don't look as well," responded 
the student, and passed on. 

Student number two greeted the driver 
in the same way, and this conversation 



262 ®lti ^torteg 

was in substance repeated with every 
student in the plot. The result was 
that this stout, hearty man was over- 
powered by the weight of evidence. It 
broke him down, and ruined his health. 

A GHOST STORY 

This should be told in as sepulchral 
tones as the teller is capable of, and a 
doleful groan should be put in occasion- 
ally. 

There was an old woman, all skin and 

bones. 
Who went to church to pray. 
First she went half-way up the aisle, 
And prayed a little while, 
Then she went down to the door. 
And prayed a little more ; 
And there she saw a ghost upon the 

floor. 
And she asked the ghost, " Will I look 

like that when I am dead } " 
And the ghost said, " YES ! " 

The final word of the story should be 
a sudden shout. Some say '' Boo ! " in- 
stead of "Yes," and others just screech 
without definite words. 

I give below a more elaborate version 



®lt( ^tortgg 263 

of the same tale. *^ Do you want to 
hear a story ? " says the teller. " Well " — 

There was an old woman, all skin and 

bones, 
Who thought she'd go to church one 

day. 
And hear the parson preach and pray. 
When she got to the churchyard stile 
She thought she'd rest a little while ; 
And when she got to the church door 
She thought she'd rest a little more. 
So she looked up, and she looked down, 
And she saw a corpse upon the ground. 
Then the woman to the parson said, 
^' Shall I look so when I am dead ? " 
And the parson to the woman said, 
*' You will look so when you are dead." 
Then the woman to the parson said, 

^^OH-H !" 



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